HDFC Bank

Is HDFC Bank safe?

For a depositor in India, yes, with one clear limit. HDFC Bank Limited reported a CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary of 17.4% at 30 June 2026, more than double the 8.4% the Reserve Bank of India requires of it, and gross non-performing assets of 1.17% of advances. Deposit insuranceDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary from the DICGC covers only ₹5 lakh per depositor, though, and above that you depend on the bank's own strength and on the RBI's record of not letting large banks fail.

We score it 70/100. That puts it below ICBC (76) and DBS (80), both of which combine strong capital with higher credit ratings or larger deposit cover. HDFC Bank's capital is stronger than either, but India's small deposit insurance limit, a thin liquidity margin after its 2023 merger and a string of regulatory penalties hold the score down.

What the ₹5 lakh DICGC limit means

Every scheduled commercial bank in India must insure deposits with the Deposit InsuranceDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary and Credit Guarantee Corporation, a subsidiary of the RBI. The limit has been ₹5 lakh per depositor per bank since 2020, and it covers principal and interest together. Since September 2021 the DICGC has had to pay insured depositors within 90 days once the RBI freezes a bank under "all-inclusive directions".

The limit counts all your accounts held "in the same right and same capacity". Your savings account, fixed deposits and recurring deposits at any HDFC Bank branch are added up. A joint account, or an account you hold as a company director or a minor's guardian, gets its own ₹5 lakh. Mutual funds, shares, bonds and insurance policies sold by the bank are not deposits and are not covered.

HDFC Bank's own estimate shows how little of its money that reaches: ₹25,419 billion, about 82% of deposits, was above the limit or otherwise uninsured in March 2026. For large savers the real backstop is the bank's status. The RBI has named it a domestic systemically important bank every year since 2017 and moved it to bucket 2 in 2024, which means an extra 0.4% of CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital from April 2025.

Capital and the 2023 merger

Measure	HDFC Bank
CET1 ratioCET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary (30 June 2026)	17.4%
CET1 requirement	8.4%
Total capital ratio	19.6% vs 11.9% required
Average LCRLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary (Jan to Mar 2026)	113.54%
Net loans to deposits (Mar 2026)	100.9%
Ratings (Moody's / S&P)	Baa3 / BBB

On 1 July 2023 HDFC Bank absorbed its parent, Housing Development Finance Corporation, a mortgage lender of similar size. It took over ₹5,242 billion of home loans, mostly funded by bonds and borrowings rather than deposits. Capital stayed high, but loans now slightly exceed deposits, and the bank has spent three years raising deposits faster than loans to close the gap. End-of-period deposits were ₹31,708 billion in June 2026, up 14.7% in a year.

Liquidity is the softer spot. An average LCR of 113.54% clears the 100% minimum, but with less room than at most banks we cover, and new RBI rules from April 2026 add a 2.5% extra run-off rate for deposits linked to internet and mobile banking. On the positive side, retail deposits are 79.9% of the total, and Indian savers rarely move money in a panic between large private banks.

International ratings of Baa3 and BBB are the lowest investment-grade notch and match India's sovereign rating, as agencies do for all Indian banks. Indian agencies give it their highest domestic ratings.

Penalties, governance and the 2020 digital ban

The RBI fines Indian banks often, and HDFC Bank appears regularly: ₹10 million in September 2024 for gifts to depositors and recovery calls outside allowed hours, ₹7.5 million in March 2025 for KYC risk categorisation failures, and ₹9.1 million in November 2025 for outsourcing, lending-rate and KYC breaches. The amounts are small for a bank this size. More notable is that in September 2025 Dubai's financial regulator stopped the bank's DIFC branch from taking new clients over onboarding failures; existing clients are still served.

On 18 March 2026 its chairman, Atanu Chakraborty, resigned saying some practices over two years did not fit his "personal values and ethics". He named none. The RBI backed the bank's management, and a three-month review by outside law firms found no support for the claim. Chief executive Sashidhar Jagdishan then chose not to seek reappointment, and Anup Bagchi takes over on 27 October 2026.

The biggest event for customers was technical. After repeated outages over two years, including a power failure at the primary data centre on 21 November 2020, the RBI ordered the bank on 2 December 2020 to stop launching new digital products and to stop signing up credit card customers. An outside audit followed; the card ban was lifted in August 2021 and the digital one in March 2022. The bank has since moved its core data centres. In May 2026 its fund management subsidiary, HDFC AMC, reported a cyber incident after an anonymous claim of access to parts of its IT systems; no breach at the bank itself has been reported.

How to keep your money safe at HDFC Bank

1. Keep insured balances within ₹5 lakh per person if you want them fully covered, and use a joint or second-capacity account or a second bank for more.
2. Remember that fixed deposits are covered, but mutual funds and insurance sold by a relationship manager are not.
3. Turn on the app's two-step verificationTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary and Secure Lock, and never share an OTP or install screen-sharing apps at a caller's request; UPI and OTP fraud is the main daily risk.
4. NRIs and Gulf clients: deposits at the DIFC, Bahrain or other overseas branches are not covered by the DICGC.

How we scored it

Stability history (82) and capital (76) are HDFC Bank's strongest factors: no rescue in its 32 years and a CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary buffer of about nine points. Conduct (64) and digital security (64) are the weakest, reflecting the RBI penalties, the DFSA order and the 2020 digital ban. Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary and liquidity (66 each) reflect the small DICGC limit and a thin LCRLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary margin.