CASA RatioCASA
The share of deposits in current and savings accounts — higher means cheaper funding and a stronger margin.
Why you care
This links your branch's daily effort to how the market judges the bank. "CASA slipped to 39%" means funding got pricier this quarter. It's the fastest read on funding quality — and the scoreboard for the CASA strategy you execute at the counter.
Run the numbers
₹3.2 lakh cr of CASA out of ₹8 lakh cr total deposits = a 40% ratio (illustrative). So 40% is near-free money, 60% costly FDs. A falling ratio quietly squeezes NIM next quarter.
Where this goes
This is where the killer path closes the loop. Repo rate → branches raise cheap CASA → cost of funds drops → NIM widens → the CASA ratio makes the whole strategy visible in the results.
Why you care
The CASA ratio is the share of a bank's total deposits that sits in current and savings accounts — the higher it is, the cheaper the bank's funding and the stronger its margin.
This is the number that connects your branch's daily effort to how the market judges your whole bank. When an analyst on TV says "the bank's CASA ratio slipped to 39%," they are really saying "its funding got more expensive this quarter." If you want to understand how your bank is doing — or compare it to a rival in an interview or a customer pitch — CASA ratio is the fastest read on funding quality. It is also the scoreboard for the CASA strategy you're executing at the counter: your account-opening numbers, summed across every branch, are this ratio.
Run the numbers
A bank's deposits (illustrative):
| Deposit type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Current accounts | ₹80,000 cr |
| Savings accounts | ₹2,40,000 cr |
| Term deposits (FDs) | ₹4,80,000 cr |
| Total deposits | ₹8,00,000 cr |
CASA = ₹80,000 + ₹2,40,000 = ₹3,20,000 cr. CASA ratio = ₹3,20,000 cr / ₹8,00,000 cr = 40%.
Reading it: 40% of this bank's money is near-free, 60% is costly FDs. Large Indian banks typically run ~40–45%; a ratio drifting down means the bank is leaning on expensive term deposits to grow, which will quietly squeeze NIM next quarter. A ratio climbing means the branch network is winning the cheap-money game. Two banks can report the same loan growth, but the one with the higher CASA ratio is making more money on it.
Where this goes
The CASA ratio is where the killer path closes the loop. RBI's repo rate sets the cost of money → branches fight to raise cheap CASA → that lowers cost of funds → which widens NIM. And the CASA ratio is the headline metric that makes the whole strategy visible in the bank's results. It's both an operational target and a judgment metric — which is exactly why it's watched so closely, and why it sits on the results scorecard.