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# HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, RBL: The RBI Swap Inside Q2 Deposit Growth
- URL: https://www.moatmarginresearch.com/rbi-fcnr-swap-q2-bank-deposits/
- Published: 2026-10-05T03:26:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-05T03:26:55.000Z
- Description: HDFC Bank, Yes Bank and RBL disclose FCNR(B) deposits raised in an RBI swap window. Without them, growth is several points lower.
- Author: A K Karthikeyan
- Tags: Moat Insights

**HDFC Bank's deposits grew 18.8% in the year to September. Its own filing explains part of that: between June and August it raised US$11.5 billion (₹1,103.4 billion) of foreign-currency FCNR(B) deposits under a Reserve Bank of India swap facility. That is about a fifth of its deposit growth. Yes Bank went further and published "normalised" numbers: without these deposits, its deposit growth is 13.2%, not 19.5%. On Monday morning RBL Bank followed: loans up 40%, or 30% without those made against FCNR(B) deposits.**

## What the RBI facility is, per the filings

Yes Bank's footnote describes it as the RBI's "concessional USD/INR Forex Swap Facility", introduced by an RBI circular dated 8 June 2026 (\[YES\]). HDFC Bank says it was "available for deposits mobilised till August 31, 2026" (\[HDFC\]).

FCNR(B) deposits are foreign-currency term deposits, typically from non-resident Indians. Under the facility, banks could swap the dollars they raised into rupees with the RBI on concessional terms. The filings don't give the terms.

## HDFC Bank: a fifth of the deposit growth

From HDFC Bank's update (\[HDFC\]), in ₹ billion:

| Period end     | 30 Sep 2025 | 30 Sep 2026 | Growth |
| -------------- | ----------- | ----------- | ------ |
| Deposits       | 28,018      | 33,275      | +18.8% |
| CASA deposits  | 9,492       | 10,520      | +10.8% |
| Time deposits  | 18,526      | 22,755      | +22.8% |
| Gross advances | 27,692      | 32,195      | +16.3% |

What the FCNR(B) disclosure changes (our arithmetic, assuming the full ₹1,103.4 billion was still on the books at 30 September):

- **Share of growth.** Deposits rose ₹5,257 billion in the year; ₹1,103.4 billion is 21% of that.
- **Growth without it.** About 14.8%, against the reported 18.8%.
- **Time deposits.** FCNR(B) deposits are time deposits. They account for about a quarter of the ₹4,229 billion rise.
- **The cheap money.** CASA fell to 31.6% of deposits from 33.9% a year ago. CASA deposits were lower at 30 September (₹10,520 billion) than at 31 March (₹10,603 billion).

**The loans side.** HDFC Bank's overseas branches "extended loan facilities aggregating to USD 5.7 billion (₹ 547.7 billion) against these deposits". It also issued standby letters of credit of US$3.1 billion for loans other banks made against them. If the ₹547.7 billion sits in gross advances, loan growth without it is about 14.3% rather than 16.3% (our arithmetic; the filing doesn't say where it is booked).

Separately, HDFC Bank says it issued US$2.5 billion of dollar bonds between June and August.

## Yes Bank: the bank does the subtraction itself

Yes Bank publishes both versions (\[YES\]):

|                         | Reported | Normalised (bank's own) |
| ----------------------- | -------- | ----------------------- |
| Deposit growth, year    | +19.5%   | +13.2%                  |
| Deposit growth, quarter | +12.3%   | +6.5%                   |
| Advance growth, year    | +23.8%   | +17.7%                  |
| CASA ratio              | 30.0%    | 31.7%                   |
| Credit-to-deposit ratio | 87.5%    | 83.2%                   |

The normalised figures exclude the FCNR(B) deposits and the related foreign-currency term loans made from its GIFT City branch.

Backing the amounts out of the growth rates gives roughly ₹18,700 crore of FCNR(B) deposits and ₹15,200 crore of related loans (our estimate; the bank doesn't give rupee amounts).

One more line stands out. Certificates of deposit, which are wholesale and usually costlier, rose to ₹11,382 crore from ₹987 crore a year earlier.

## RBL Bank: the biggest jump of all

RBL Bank's update (\[RBL\]), in ₹ billion:

|                | 30 Sep 2025 | 30 Jun 2026 | 30 Sep 2026 | Year | Quarter |
| -------------- | ----------- | ----------- | ----------- | ---- | ------- |
| Total deposits | 1,166.7     | 1,248.3     | 1,562.8     | +34% | +25%    |
| CASA           | 371.7       | 364.7       | 425.3       | +14% | +17%    |
| Gross advances | 1,023.3     | 1,173.2     | 1,433.5     | +40% | +22%    |

- **The ratio.** CASA was 27.2% of deposits, down from 31.9% a year ago and 29.2% in June.
- **Advances without the window.** The bank says growth was "30% YoY and 13% QoQ ex-loans provided by the international banking unit of the Bank against the FCNR(B) deposits".
- **Our estimate.** Backing out of the rounded rates, those loans are about ₹100 billion.
- **Not disclosed.** The FCNR(B) deposit amount, or deposit growth without it.

## Why this matters for the other 22 banks

Our [Q2 Bank Scoreboard](https://www.moatmarginresearch.com/q2-fy27-bank-scoreboard/) ranks the first 22 banks on deposit and loan growth from their own updates (\[SB\]). None of those 22 updates mentions the RBI facility. So we can't tell whether their headline deposit growth includes swap-window FCNR(B) deposits. For example, Bank of India's domestic deposits rose ₹75,255 crore in the September quarter alone, and its filing doesn't say why.

Until each bank's Q2 results or notes say so, the honest reading is this: some of Q2's deposit growth may have come from a one-time window that closed on 31 August.

## Moat and margin

**Focus moat: cost advantage.** For a bank, the funding moat is a large base of cheap, sticky current and savings deposits.

FCNR(B) money raised in a swap window is a different thing. It is term money, raised for a specific scheme, and it can leave when the deposits mature.

- HDFC Bank's CASA share fell to 31.6% from 33.9%.
- Yes Bank's fell to 30.0% from 33.7% reported, or to 31.7% normalised.
- RBL Bank's fell to 27.2% from 31.9%.
- Yes Bank's certificates of deposit rose more than elevenfold.

All three grew; none of the filings shows the cheap-deposit franchise growing as fast as the balance sheet.

**The margin question.** Neither filing gives the cost of the FCNR(B) deposits or the swap terms. The Q2 results will show what they did to funding costs.

**MoatSCOREs (as published on the Moat Screener, 5 Oct 2026 (\[MS\])):**

- HDFC Bank: 6.04
- Yes Bank: 5.60
- RBL Bank: 5.65

None has been re-scored for these updates.

## The bear case

- **Flattering growth.** Strip out the window and HDFC Bank's deposit growth is about 15%, and Yes Bank's is 13.2%.
- **Thinner cheap money.** All three banks' CASA share fell over the year.
- **Wholesale funding.** Yes Bank's certificates of deposit rose to ₹11,382 crore from ₹987 crore.

## The case for

- **Disclosure.** All three spelled the window out; Yes Bank and RBL published growth without it themselves.
- **Growth underneath.** Even excluding the window, HDFC Bank's deposits grew about 15% and Yes Bank's 13.2%.
- **Matched lending.** HDFC Bank lent against the same deposits (US$5.7 billion), so part of the inflow came with matching assets.

## What to watch

1. Whether other banks' Q2 results and notes disclose FCNR(B) swap deposits.
2. How much of HDFC Bank's US$11.5 billion is still outstanding in December.
3. Q2 funding costs at all three banks.

## Sources

- **\[HDFC\]** [HDFC Bank, Q2 FY27 business update, 4 Oct 2026](https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/corporate/HDFCBANK%5F04102026220033%5Finitial%5FFinal%5Fdisclosure%5FSep2026.pdf) (NSE)
- **\[YES\]** [Yes Bank, Q2 FY27 pre-results disclosure, 4 Oct 2026](https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/corporate/YESBANK%5F04102026130032%5FYBL%5FSE%5FIntimation%5FPre%5FResults%5FDisclosure-Q2FY27%5FSigned.pdf) (NSE)
- **\[RBL\]** [RBL Bank, Q2 FY27 business update, 5 Oct 2026](https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/corporate/RBLBANK%5F05102026071703%5FIntimationunderSEBILODRQ2FY27Signed.pdf) (NSE)
- **\[SB\]** [Moat & Margin, Q2 Bank Scoreboard](https://www.moatmarginresearch.com/q2-fy27-bank-scoreboard/)
- **\[MS\]** [Moat & Margin, Moat Screener](https://www.moatmarginresearch.com/moat-screener/) and [How MoatSCORE works](https://www.moatmarginresearch.com/moatscore/)

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> Educational research, not investment advice. Every figure above is drawn from HDFC Bank's, Yes Bank's and RBL Bank's own filings, read from the primary documents on 5 October 2026; derived figures are our arithmetic and are labelled. MoatSCOREs are as published on the Moat Screener. No buy/sell recommendations, no price targets, no share prices. Moat & Margin is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or Investment Adviser.