HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, RBL: The RBI Swap Inside Q2 Deposit Growth

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:

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]):

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:

• 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 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 (NSE)
• [YES] Yes Bank, Q2 FY27 pre-results disclosure, 4 Oct 2026 (NSE)
• [RBL] RBL Bank, Q2 FY27 business update, 5 Oct 2026 (NSE)
• [SB] Moat & Margin, Q2 Bank Scoreboard
• [MS] Moat & Margin, Moat Screener and How MoatSCORE works

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.