India’s dynamic and evolving banking industry remains a vital financial pillar of the nation’s economy, playing an important role in development and growth. The sector is highly regulated, with the Reserve Bank of India recognised as one of the most respected regulators globally.  

While the industry has grown aided by strong economic growth, rising disposable incomes, and improved credit access, banks continue to navigate a range of challenges such as tighter regulatory norms and compliance, higher NPAs, cybersecurity risks, fintech-driven competition, and global uncertainties.

At Grant Thornton Bharat, we work closely with the key players across the banking ecosystem, helping them navigate complex risks and challenges seamlessly by delivering customised services and solutions tailored to each client's unique needs. 

Our value proposition

Extensive experience across the banking ecosystem

A highly experienced team of professionals who have worked across the banking ecosystem, spanning all types of banks, regulators, government institutions, industry associations, and Global Capability Centers (GCCs).

Strong sector domain knowledge

A robust team of experts specialised in the banking sector to help institutions in adhering to regulations, operate safely, and drive transformation.

Customer centricity

We are dedicated to delivering customised services and solutions that seamlessly align with the unique requirements of our clients throughout their business journey.

Driving strategic growth and transformation

From navigating regulatory complexity to accelerating digital transformation, strengthening risk resilience, and enabling sustainable, technology‑led growth, we support institutions in driving their overall strategic growth and transformation.

Our solutions

Banks are facing growing challenges from rapidly evolving regulations, fragmented risk management, inefficient processes, and limited assurance capabilities, leading to gaps in compliance, operational efficiency, and decision‑making. Leveraging our regulatory experience and deep expertise in IT, cybersecurity, governance, and compliance, we offer a comprehensive, regulatory‑driven advisory solution that provides an integrated plan across multiple domains to strengthen controls, enhance compliance posture, and build sustainable governance frameworks.

With rising cyber, data privacy, and third‑party technology risks increasing operational vulnerability, organizations require stronger cyber resilience, IT governance, and vendor risk management frameworks. Our risk and governance experts collaborate closely with client teams to design and implement robust enterprise risk management frameworks, streamline internal compliance monitoring, and enhance governance practices by automating core compliance activities in alignment with RBI guidelines.

We help banks address systemic challenges across compliance, finance, operations, technology, program execution, and growth by enabling holistic transformation. Our integrated solutions focus on automating regulatory compliance through RegTech tools, transforming finance functions, modernising core banking systems, strengthening change and program management, implementing ERP and LOS platforms, and driving cost optimization to deliver sustainable operational excellence.

Our digital and transformation solutions help banks overcome challenges originating from fragmented data landscapes, legacy technology stacks, and disconnected digital initiatives. We empower them with scalable tools and platforms, enabling them to innovate faster, enhance operational agility, and respond more effectively to rapidly evolving customer expectations.

Banks face increasing exposure to fraud risks due to heightened digital transactions and varied and high volume nature of their business. We support the financial institutions with fraud risk assessments, forensic investigations, fraud analytics and resilience testing to strengthen fraud detection and prevention mechanisms.

Growing expectations around ESG integration and climate risk assessment are significantly expanding reporting and risk‑management requirements across lending portfolios. Our ESG Strategy and Compliance solutions covering corporate sustainability, ESG strategy and diligence, ESG policy development and reporting, ESG attestation and assurance, CSR advisory, and donor‑grant management advisory enable banks to respond more effectively to these evolving requirements and align their processes with the emerging regulatory expectations.

Case study by Grant Thornton Bharat - Can regulatory audits strengthen digital risk governance in banking?
Case study

Can audits strengthen cyber and compliance in banking?

Read more
1.
Problem statement
A private bank faced regulator-identified deficiencies in IT, cyber, and payments, requiring an external audit for remediation and compliance.
2.
Our solution
We reviewed governance, cybersecurity, vendor risk, continuity, and ransomware preparedness, delivering actionable recommendations to meet compliance standards.
3.
The results
The audit ensured full compliance, stronger risk governance, improved security of digital payments, and readiness against evolving cyber threats.

    How Grant Thornton Bharat can support

    Grant Thornton Bharat combines deep financial services expertise with multidisciplinary consulting capabilities to help Banks address complex regulatory, operational and strategic challenges. 
    Our teams work closely with leadership teams and boards to:

    • Strengthen regulatory compliance and governance frameworks
    • Enhance enterprise risk management and internal controls
    • Implement digital and technology-led transformation initiatives
    • Improve operational efficiency and financial performance
    • Detect and mitigate fraud and financial crime risks

    Through our integrated approach across consulting, risk advisory, tax and transaction services, we help financial institutions become more resilient and future-ready.

    Get in touch

    Vernon Dcosta

    Partner and Banking Industry Leader

    Our resources

    Toolkit for prevention of financial frauds via Calls & SMS

    Access RBI’s regulatory guidelines, key safeguards, and our expert services to help you detect, prevent, and respond to fraud attempts via calls and SMS.

    ECL AssessPro

    ECL Model Maturity Assessment Tool from Grant Thornton Bharat

      AI-led systemic cyber risk from Claude Mythos

      AI is reshaping cyber risk across interconnected systems, making resilience and continuity central to critical infrastructure.

        Finance transformation: Innovate to elevate

        Our financial transformation solution streamlines ops and automates finance with ERP, CRM and Zoho's AI-powered finance suite for real-time insights.

        RBI Master Directions on fraud risk management

        The Board of Directors’ overall roles and responsibilities in fraud risk management, enhance internal control frameworks, and ensure compliance.