How to apply for Bank PO / Clerk via IBPS and SBI — complete 2026 guide

The IBPS CRP PO/MT XIV cycle (which Suresh sat for) had 5,208 vacancies across 11 PSBs, with about 6.7 lakh applicants for PO. SBI's separate PO 2024 cycle had 2,000 vacancies and ~12 lakh applicants. The application is the easy part; the cutoff war is the real exam.

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) was set up in 1975 by the Reserve Bank of India with member banks (then the Personnel Selection Services Division of the National Institute of Bank Management). It became an autonomous body in 1984. Since 2011, IBPS conducts the Common Recruitment Process (CRP) for clerical and officer cadre across PSU banks (except SBI), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) — separate exam — and select insurance / cooperative bodies.

SBI recruits independently under the State Bank of India Act, 1955 (which created SBI as the successor to Imperial Bank of India). SBI's recruitment is via its Central Recruitment & Promotion Department (CRPD) at the Corporate Centre, Mumbai.

RBI Grade B officer recruitment is separate — conducted directly by RBI, not via IBPS — and is not covered in this guide (see RBI careers page).

The 11 IBPS member banks for PO / Clerk CRP are:

• Bank of Baroda
• Bank of India
• Bank of Maharashtra
• Canara Bank
• Central Bank of India
• Indian Bank
• Indian Overseas Bank
• Punjab National Bank
• Punjab & Sind Bank
• UCO Bank
• Union Bank of India

(Bank of Baroda has at times opted out of CRP-PO and recruited separately for its Baroda Manipal PO Course — verify in the year's notification.)

Drops in first week of August each year on ibps.in as a PDF. Read:

• Eligibility (age, education, citizenship)
• Vacancy table — bank-wise + category-wise + state-wise
• Reservation (PwBD, Ex-SM, EWS)
• Exam pattern (Prelim, Mains, Interview)
• Application fee
• Important dates
• State-wise vacancy — IBPS recruits with state preference; PNB Lucknow vacancies are different from PNB Bengaluru vacancies. Pick wisely.

• Citizenship: Indian, or subject of Nepal/Bhutan, or Tibetan refugee (pre-1962), or PIO migrated from specified countries.
• Age (1 August of exam year): 20 – 30 years for PO/MT. Relaxations:
  • SC/ST + 5
  • OBC NCL + 3
  • PwBD General + 10, OBC + 13, SC/ST + 15
  • Ex-Servicemen + 5
  • Widows/divorced women + 9 years (with conditions)
• Educational qualification: Bachelor's degree (any discipline) from a UGC-recognised university, with proof of mark sheet / provisional certificate as on the date of application. Final-year students cannot apply.
• Computer literacy: mandatory — declared in the form (no separate test).
• Language proficiency: must opt for state preference; for vernacular work the bank may test reading/writing of the local language at joining stage.

• Visit ibps.in → “CRP PO / MT-XV” → “Apply Online” → “New Registration”.
• Provide: name, DOB, mobile, email, address.
• System generates: Registration Number + Password — note both. (Password also emailed/SMSed.)

• Personal: name (as in matric), DOB, gender, category, parents, mother tongue.
• Educational: matric, intermediate, graduation (board, year, %, university).
• Bank preference: rank all 11 banks. (You can mark “not interested” against banks you don't want — your final allocation will not include those.) Crucial step. Suresh's order — PNB / Canara / Indian Bank / BoB / BoI / Union / UCO / Central / IOB / P&SB / BoM.
• State preference per bank — different banks have different state vacancies in a given year. Cross-check the vacancy table before locking.
• Upload:
  • Photograph (200×230 px, 20-50 KB, JPG, recent, light background)
  • Signature (140×60 px, 10-20 KB, JPG, black ink)
  • Left thumb impression (240×240 px, 20-50 KB, JPG, on white paper, blue/black ink)
  • Handwritten declaration (800×400 px, 50-100 KB, JPG) — text given in notification, must be in English in your handwriting on white paper

• Fee: ₹850 (General/OBC/EWS); ₹175 (SC/ST/PwBD/Ex-SM).
• Modes: net banking, debit/credit card, UPI.
• Submit. Print acknowledgement (Registration ID + post applied + fee details).

• Released 2-3 weeks before Prelim (early October).
• Login → “Call Letter” → CRP PO Prelim → download.
• Carry: printout + original photo ID + 2 passport photos (matching upload).

• Prelim (October): 100 questions, 1 hour (since 2018 change to sectional timing — 20 min per section).
  • English Language: 30 Q × 1 = 30
  • Quantitative Aptitude: 35 Q × 1 = 35
  • Reasoning Ability: 35 Q × 1 = 35
  • Negative marking: −0.25
  • Qualifying for Mains; minimum sectional cutoff per IBPS norm.
• Mains (November): 200 objective + 50 descriptive, 3 hr 30 min total.
  • Reasoning + Computer Aptitude: 45 Q × 60 marks; 60 min
  • General / Economy / Banking Awareness: 40 Q × 40 marks; 35 min
  • English Language: 35 Q × 40 marks; 40 min
  • Data Interpretation & Analysis: 35 Q × 60 marks; 45 min
  • Descriptive (English): Letter (150 wd) + Essay (250 wd); 50 marks; 30 min — typed online
  • Negative −0.25 (objective only)
• Common Interview (January–February): Conducted by participating banks together at state nodal banks. 100 marks.
• Final score weightage: Mains 80% + Interview 20%.
• Provisional allotment (March–April): banks allocated by merit + preference + vacancy + reservation.

• Each allotted bank conducts its own DV at its zonal/circle office.
• Documents: matric, intermediate, graduation (final mark sheet + degree), caste / EWS / PwBD certificate, photo ID, address proof, 6 passport photos, 2 testimonials.
• Pre-employment medical at empanelled hospital.
• Joining letter within 30-60 days; reporting to bank training college (e.g., PNBIIT Lucknow, BOI Mgmt Devt Inst Mumbai, Canara Inst Manipal).

The SBI PO process mirrors IBPS but:

• Notification: April each year (sbi.co.in/careers).
• Fee: ₹750 (General/OBC/EWS); NIL (SC/ST/PwBD).
• Prelim: June. Same pattern as IBPS Prelim (English + Quant + Reasoning).
• Mains: July. 4 sections + descriptive — slightly different time allocation.
• Group Exercise + Interview: September–October. GE 20 marks + Interview 30 marks = 50 marks (vs IBPS's 100-mark interview).
• Final list: November.
• Joining: January–March of next year. Posting at any branch in India.
• Salary: Probationary Officer in SBI gets basic ₹48,480 + DA + HRA + special allowance — total gross ~₹85,000-₹90,000 in a metro.

SBI Clerk has its own cycle (notification November, exams Feb-March, joining May-July).

+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| Exam                       | Fee    | Fee    | Age      | Educ            |
|                            | (Gen)  | (SC/ST)|          |                 |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| IBPS PO/MT (CRP-PO)        | ₹850   | ₹175   | 20-30    | Graduate        |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| IBPS Clerk (CRP-Clerk)     | ₹850   | ₹175   | 20-28    | Graduate        |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| IBPS RRB Officer Scale-I   | ₹850   | ₹175   | 18-30    | Graduate        |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| IBPS RRB Office Asst       | ₹850   | ₹175   | 18-28    | Graduate +      |
|                            |        |        |          | local lang      |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| IBPS Specialist Officer    | ₹850   | ₹175   | 20-30    | Specialist deg  |
| (IT, HR, Marketing, Law,   |        |        |          | (LLB, MBA, etc) |
| Agri, Rajbhasha, etc)      |        |        |          |                 |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| SBI PO                     | ₹750   | NIL    | 21-30    | Graduate        |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+
| SBI Clerk (Junior Asst)    | ₹750   | NIL    | 20-28    | Graduate        |
+----------------------------+--------+--------+----------+-----------------+

RTI fee to PIO IBPS / PIO SBI: ₹10 by IPO. BPL = free.

PO Pay Scale (JMG Scale-I): ₹48,480 - 2000/7 - 62,480 - 2340/2 - 67,160 - 2680/7
  = ₹85,920 (basic) + DA + HRA + special allowance + perks
PO total CTC year 1 (metro): ~₹10-13 lakh per annum

• Photo / signature / thumb impression / declaration — wrong KB or px. IBPS rejects ruthlessly; the form won't even submit. Use the IBPS-supplied online image cropper, not third-party tools.
• Aadhaar mismatch — name in Aadhaar differs from matric. Update Aadhaar first at uidai.gov.in (correction at any Aadhaar Seva Kendra; takes 7-10 days).
• Payment gateway failure — double-debit common in IBPS portal. Wait 72 hours for auto-reversal. Do not retry. Confirm with bank statement before raising IBPS ticket.
• Centre full — Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi fill within first 5 days. Apply early.
• Final-year students — IBPS does not allow final-year applications. You must have your degree result on the date of application. SBI is similar.
• Bank preference saved as default — IBPS form pre-fills all 11 banks in alphabetical order. You must change the order. Pooja's friend left it default and got allotted Bank of Maharashtra in Pune when he wanted Indian Bank in Chennai.
• State preference per bank wrong — vacancy is state-tagged; if you mark “Indian Bank — Maharashtra” but Indian Bank has zero Maharashtra vacancy that year, you're effectively not in the running.
• Biometric capture failure on exam day — no electronics, no jewellery, fingerprints sometimes fail for those with very dry skin. Apply moisturiser the night before.
• Document Verification — graduation marksheet missing — provisional certificate accepted if final degree pending. Get it stamped by the university registrar.
• Pre-employment medical — uncontrolled diabetes / BP, vision below 6/12 (correctable acceptable), hearing — all flagged. Get a baseline check before DV.

• IBPS helpline: 1800-222-366 / 1800-103-4566 (10 am – 5 pm, Mon-Sat).
• IBPS email: headoffice@ibps.in (general); crp.po@ibps.in for PO queries.
• SBI Recruitment: 022-2282-0427 / crpd@sbi.co.in.
• Best for: payment failure, login lockout, admit card not generated.

• IBPS: ibps.in → “Contact Us” → “Online Query Resolution” → fill ticket. SLA 7 days.
• SBI: sbi.co.in/careers → “Help Desk” → fill query.

• Important: Banking Ombudsman handles service complaints (account, loan, ATM). Recruitment matters are outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction (per Reserve Bank — Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021 Clause 10). Don't waste time here.

• https://pgportal.gov.in → Ministry: “Department of Financial Services” → sub-organisation: “Public Sector Banks” or “IBPS”.
• Higher visibility. Routes to a JS-level officer in DFS.

IBPS is a public authority under §2(h) RTI Act 2005 — confirmed by CIC in multiple orders since 2012 (substantially financed by participating PSBs and RBI). Each PSB (PNB, Canara, BoB, etc.) is a public authority by virtue of being a “public sector undertaking owned and controlled by the government”. SBI is also a public authority — confirmed by CIC and Bombay HC.

• PIO IBPS: The CPIO, Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, IBPS House, Plot No. 166, 90-Ft DP Road, Off Western Express Highway, Kandivali (East), Mumbai – 400101.
• PIO SBI: The CPIO, State Bank of India, Corporate Centre, State Bank Bhavan, Madame Cama Road, Mumbai – 400021.
• For an individual PSB allotment query, write to the CPIO of the allotted bank's Head Office / your Circle Office.

RTI helps here when:

• Mark sheet / individual scorecard of Prelim, Mains, Interview — IBPS publishes per-stage scorecards 7-15 days after each result, but if you want a certified copy or your descriptive paper marks broken down, RTI works. Aditya Bandopadhyay (2011) 8 SCC 497 applies.
• Cutoff details — IBPS publishes only the final cutoff of each stage; sectional cutoffs and category-wise breakdowns come via RTI. Suresh's story above.
• Answer key — final for Prelim / Mains — IBPS publishes a tentative key with paid challenge window (₹100/Q); the final key post-result is via RTI.
• Your Mains descriptive paper (typed essay + letter) — available post-final-result; ₹2/page on top of base ₹10. Bandopadhyay applies.
• Tie-breaker rule application — IBPS uses Mains marks → DOB (older first). RTI for how the rule was applied between you and the next-rank candidate.
• Reason for rejection at DV / Medical — get the specific deficiency note via RTI to the bank's Circle Office CPIO.
• Bank-specific salary / posting policy — though this often falls under “internal HR policy” and may be partially redacted.

See: RTI in 12 simple steps and Challenging an exam result — revaluation, re-scrutiny, RTI.

RTI does NOT help here when:

• You want IBPS to change your bank allotment — RTI is information-only; allotment is final once provisional list is published. The only redress is to decline the allotment and reapply next year.
• You want another candidate's marks / personal data — denied under §8(1)(j).
• You want a “list of all selected candidates with addresses” — no. Bank-wise final list is public, but addresses / phone numbers are not.
• You disagree with a sectional cutoff — that's IBPS's policy; not “information”. File representation, not RTI.
• For SBI: commercial decisions (e.g., why BoB Manipal PO was started) — partially exempt under §8(1)(d) (commercial confidence).
• Joining delay due to “vacancy not yet released” — RTI to the bank's CPIO can ask for the joining schedule, but if the bank hasn't decided, no information exists. Be patient or escalate via DFS / CPGRAMS.

Q. Can I apply for both IBPS PO and SBI PO in the same year?
Yes. They are independent processes. Many candidates apply for both. If you clear both and join one, the other allotment lapses (you'll be removed from the wait list).

Q. I am a CA / Engineer / MBA. Can I apply?
Yes — IBPS / SBI accept any graduation. Specialised qualifications (CA, CFA, MBA Finance, B.Tech CS) are advantages at the interview / Group Exercise stage.

Q. I'm in the final year of B.Com. Can I apply for IBPS PO?
No. IBPS requires the graduation result to be declared on or before the date of application. SBI is similar. Wait one cycle.

Q. My state preference for PNB is “Karnataka” but I want PNB Mumbai. What now?
Allotment is by state vacancy + merit + your preference. If you're allotted Karnataka and want Mumbai, you can request inter-circle transfer after 2-3 years of service per the bank's transfer policy — not before joining.

Q. What's the difference between Probationary Officer and Management Trainee in IBPS?
Pay scale and designation are the same; “Management Trainee” is what some banks call their PO trainees during the first 1-2 years of induction (e.g., Bank of Baroda's MT). Functionally identical.

Q. SBI PO is harder than IBPS PO — is that true?
SBI's Mains has fewer questions but more analytical Data Interpretation; cutoffs are similar percentile-wise. The bigger differentiator is GE + Interview — SBI weighs personality more (50 marks combined vs IBPS's interview-only 100).

Q. Can I refuse the bank allotted to me and ask for a different one?
No. Allotment is final. You can decline the allotment (your candidature lapses for that cycle) or accept and apply for inter-bank transfer years later (very rare — usually requires VRS from old bank and fresh joining at new).

Q. RBI Grade B comes through IBPS too?
No. RBI conducts its own Grade B and Assistant exams at rbi.org.in. Different syllabus, different pattern, different fee. See: rbi.org.in → Careers.

• Challenging an exam result — revaluation, re-scrutiny, RTI
• RTI in 12 simple steps — for first-time filers
• All Indian government helplines — one master directory
• RTI forms + state-wise fee chart
• How to apply for UPSC Civil Services Exam — 2026
• How to apply for SSC CGL — complete 2026 guide
• How to apply for CUET-UG — complete 2026 guide

Last reviewed: 26 April 2026 by RTI Wiki editorial team. IBPS / SBI notifications, fee structures and bank-wise vacancy lists are notified afresh each year — verify on ibps.in / sbi.co.in/careers or write to admin@bighelpers.in if you spot a stale figure.