RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – A Detailed Comparison – Read Here

Bank Exam Aspirants often have this comparison between the posts of RBI Assistant and IBPS Clerk. They are keen on comparing these two positions around various parameters like In-hand Salary, Career & Growth Prospects, the Nature of Daily Work, Work Culture, Place of Posting, Availability of various Perk & Allowances etc. It is human nature to compare between options so that one can choose the best for oneself, nothing wrong in that. Therefore, keeping in mind your convenience and queries, we have compiled this detailed post on the comparison of RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk. 

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RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – A Detailed  Comparison

To start with both the posts of RBI Assistant and IBPS Clerk are of clerical cadre. Both these positions require you to work under the guidance and authority of the immediate reporting officer. But one post gives you an opportunity to work in the country’s central banking authority that is Reserve Bank of India while the other in various Public Sector Banks in the country. 

1. RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – Exam Pattern & Difficulty Level 

The exam pattern of these two exams is more or less the same except for the Language Proficiency Test that is compulsory in the RBI Assistant Exam. While this is to note that for both these Exams, there is no Interview round. The Mains Exam Marks are counted for final selection.

If we talk about the level of difficulty of these exams, then we can say that the difficulty level of both Prelims and Mains of IBPS Clerk is a notch higher than the Prelims and Mains of RBI Assistant Exam. This can be seen the cut off of both these Exams. 

• IBPS Clerk Cut Off | Previous Year’s Cutoff for IBPS Clerk Prelims & Mains
• RBI Assistant Previous Year Cut Off for 2019, 2017, 2016 & 2015: Check Here

2. RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – In-hand Salary (Emoluments)

IBPS Clerk – The Initial Basic Pay of an IBPS Clerk is Rs 11765 with a yearly increment of Rs 655 for three years. The gross salary is around Rs.19000 to 21000.

RBI Assistants will draw a starting basic pay of ₹ 14,650/- per month (i.e. ₹ 13,150/- plus two advance increments admissible to Graduates) in the scale of ₹ 13150 – 750(3) – 15400 – 900(4) – 19000 – 1200(6) – 26200 – 1300(2) – 28800 –1480(3) – 33240 – 1750(1) – 34990 (20 years) and At present, initial monthly Gross emoluments for Assistants approximately Rs 36091/-

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3. RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – Perks & Allowances

IBPS Clerk

The allowances that an IBPS Clerk gets, other than the basic pay are explained below:

• Dearness Allowance: This component is 4% of the Basic Pay. DA depends on the CPI and is revised after every three months.
• House Rent Allowance: The HRA is dependent on the location of the posting. It is 8.5 % of the Basic Pay for Metro Cities, 7.5% of the Basic Pay for cities having a population of more than 5 lakhs, and 6.5% of the Basic Pay for other cities.
• Travel Allowance: The official tours and travels will be reimbursed by the bank.
• Medical Allowance: For IBPS Clerks, the amount is fixed at Rs 2000. It is paid once a year.

RBI Assistant 

The perks of getting a job in the RBI Assistant post are numerous.

• Selected candidates are eligible for House Rent Allowances, Dearness Allowance, Transport Allowance, and City Compensatory Allowance.
• Housing accommodation
• Allowance for furnishing your residence (as per eligibility).
• Book grant, newspaper and briefcase
• Reimbursement of vehicle maintenance expenses (used for the official purpose)
• Reimbursement of medical expenses for hospitalization and OPD treatment
• Leave Travel Concessions for the employee’s family once every two years
• Interest-free Festival Advance
• Advances and loans at concessional interest rates for car, housing, education, personal computer, consumer articles etc.

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4. RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – Job Profile & Nature of Daily Work

IBPS Clerk

The roles and responsibilities in IBPS Clerk Job Profile are explained below:

• Attending to Treasury Works of respective banks.
• Issuing of Demand Drafts (DDs), Opening Bank Accounts for the customers, Issuing Cash Receipts, etc.
• Maintaining the various documents of the bank, balance sheets, ledger, etc.
• Providing guidance to the Bank Customers relating to various banking activities.
• Providing Information about the Latest Schemes and Government Policies to the Bank Customers.
• Resolving Customers Queries.
• Resolving the various concerns of the customers.
• Sanctioning of withdrawals by the customers.
• Updating the passbooks of account holders.
• Verification of various documents and proofs submitted by the customers.
• Miscellaneous tasks

RBI Assistant 

RBI Assistant is basically a clerical level post in various regional offices of RBI located in the state capitals (mostly). The job responsibilities of an RBI Assistant include:

• Maintaining files – It includes collection of receipts, maintaining of Ledger, Balance tally etc. 
• Data Entry – Entering of day-to-day transactions (Computer-based working)
• Replying and maintaining Email logs
• Responding to RTI Queries
• Currency Issue & Circulation
• Verification of Banking Documents
• Attending to the Government Treasury Work 
• Co-ordinating with the higher authorities in terms of work.

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5. RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – Career & Growth Prospects

IBPS Clerk

IBPS Clerk offers a decent salary, a settled job and regular chances of growth. Based on the performance, promotion and growth are offered.

However, a minimum of 2 years of service is required to be eligible for a promotion. After two years of service, IBPS Clerks gets promoted once in every two years. IBPS Clerks are promoted as per one of the following processes.

• Normal process- Candidates who get promoted through this process don’t require JAIIB and CAIIB Diploma. IBPS Clerks are promoted based on the experience and seniority and a written exam is conducted internally. After the qualification of the written exam become IBPS Clerks become Trainee Officers and then Bank Probationary Officers (PO).
• Merit-based process- Merit-Based Process requires a candidate to have JAIIB and CAIIB diploma from Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.

Career Progression

Bank Clerk → Officier / Assistant Manager → Manager → Senior Manager → Chief Manager → Asst. General Manager → Deputy General Manager → General Manager.

RBI Assistant

There are reasonable prospects for promotion to higher grades. Once a candidate joins RBI as an assistant, he/she will get multiple chances to get promoted to the higher-level posts. All the candidates who wish to get promoted to the officer level need to apply for the promotion test and appear for the examination and pass it as well. But before that one has to undergo their service period of a minimum of 2 years to become eligible for promotion to Officer Cadre.

Promotions are conducted at a period of every 2-3 years wherein RBI Assistants have the opportunity to be a part of it. There are two processes for an assistant to get promoted to a Grade A officer level:

• Normal process
• Merit basis process

(i) Normal process: The employee has to qualify written exam and on the basis of his experience and seniority in the services of a bank, he/she will be selected as an Officer.

(ii) Merit basis process: Two-year service (minimum) as a clerk with a JAIIB and CAIIB diploma conducted by Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF) is must with graduate/post-graduate degree.

There are four scales in Officer cadre:

1. Scale 1 – Officer / Assistant Manager (Grade A)
2. Scale 2 – Manager (Grade B)
3. Scale 3 – Senior Manager (Grade C)
4. Scale 4 – Chief Manager (Grade D)

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6. RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – Place of Posting

IBPS Clerk

In the first few years, it is less likely that clerks receive a posting that is near their home town. The IBPS Clerk posting location is generally decided by the employer.

The probation period after being posted at a bank branch lasts for 6 months. After this, the performance of the clerk is evaluated and accordingly his/her position is made permanent. A clerk can expect a promotion after 2-3 years, depending on their performance.

RBI Assistant 

Selected candidates will be initially posted in RBI’s office within the Recruitment Zone for which they had applied. However, they are liable to be transferred in administrative exigencies to centres grouped and classified into West, South, North and East Zone offices as under:

(a) West Zone: Ahmedabad, Bhopal (including Raipur), Mumbai (including Belapur, Pune and Panaji), Nagpur.

(b) South Zone: Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram (including Kochi).

(c) North Zone: Chandigarh (including Shimla), Jaipur, Jammu / Srinagar, Kanpur, (including Lucknow & Dehradun), New Delhi.

(d) East Zone: Bhubaneswar, Guwahati (including all North Eastern states excluding Gangtok), Kolkata (including Gangtok), Patna (including Ranchi).

RBI Assistant vs IBPS Clerk – Conclusion

All and all if we come to a conclusion as per the above-mentioned pointers, we can say that RBI Assistant offers better pay, great working culture wherein you learn from the senior knowledgeable RBI officers, 5 days work-week,  low work pressure, postings in state capitals mostly and the brand name Reserve Bank of India that comes with your designation. 

As we have compared these two posts of IBPS Clerk vs RBI Assistant, just wanted to inform you that the online registrations for the RBI Assistant 2019-20 posts are still ongoing. Apply ASAP if you are determined to work in RBI and prepare well.

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