Axis Bank Ltd Management Discussions

MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

The domestic economy was primed to enjoy a few more years of above-trend growth, given significant slack below the pre- 2020 growth trajectory, especially with a significantly slower pace of fiscal consolidation, easy monetary conditions, and regulatory easing with a focus on ease of doing business. However, the West Asia conflict has thrown up a multi-dimensional shock: commodity prices and availability. Uncertainty around business conditions, and higher global costs of capital are also likely to be seen, driving greater caution and a holding back of consumption as well as investment activity. Nor is the end of the conflict likely to fully reverse these trends, with developments in geopolitics suggestive of further conflicts where major powers take sides down the road. All-in, these developments lead to reduced savings, higher costs of goods and services, and higher costs of capital.

India Economy

The global landscape is likely to hit both long-term and short-term growth domestically. Short-term, tighter inputs and greater uncertainty will stall otherwise strong recovery trends, while a less value chain friendly global environment with higher costs of capital will likely hold back longer term trends. We already see continued financial outflows with high domestic savings flowing out, in response to falling global savings and higher interest rates-these are likely a natural driver of raising domestic rates to converge with global real levels, drive higher inflation, and lower long-term growth.

As against this, nimble policymaking and the use of countercyclical buffers can support both short and long-term growth. The budgets focus on electronics and technology, accessibility to resource-rich areas, focus on biopharma and services exports where tariff focus has been light, increased defence capex, and a focus on urban infra are all part of this mix, adding to the existing focus on macro and micro-infrastructure. Additionally, India has also rapidly moved to close bilateral trade agreements with complementarity as the focus - resulting in over 70% of exports now covered by deals. While the global environment will likely remain inherently unpredictable, these steps will help build the foundation for stabler, well-positioned growth.

Banking system trends and linkages

Positive trends also reflect on the banking sector in general, and well-managed banks in particular: Stronger and higher quality growth along with policy predictability have helped credit growth pick up over an increasingly diversified base - with MSMEs, services, NBFCs and retail. Additionally, this growth has been towards higher quality assets, with innovations in appraisal also better able to identify new avenues adding onto positive quality migration. Trends have resulted in continued declines in industry credit costs and a high level of capital adequacy. Evidence from past input price shocks suggests a pickup in working- capital linked credit in the medium term - though higher effective lending costs might hold up progress here.

Fiscal 2027 will also likely see good banking growth. Already, demand for debt capital has been strong, and tends to grow further with higher input costs, as well as government measures to support credit quality through guarantee schemes. This is added to by higher nominal growth, tracking past trends during periods of high inflation. Buffers in terms of capital are for now adequate, but the time to look to rebuild these might come in at some point as conditions move away from the existent.

Medium-term growth

We have been championing the above trend growth seen with low inflation and imbalances indicative of domestic slack, with GDP around 10% below pre-pandemic trends. However, this slack might be drained by the defacto financial tightening driven by global developments, while higher prices and a weaker REER also imports inflation. To an extent, fiscal policy around investments and productivity could raise long-term potential growth, while revenue spending in the form of subsidies and other support measures can support the near term.

With these trends, we continue to see longer term growth of around 7%, but running hot above this now seems more challenging.

Structured forward-looking drivers

We are looking at a less open world, with past periods of geopolitical competition seeing high commodity prices, high fiscal spending, financial suppression, segmentation of value chains and financial flow channels, and lower productivity growth especially for countries that stake out geopolitical neutrality. These trends impose less supportive global conditions and can spur domestic measures to help mitigate conditions. However, absent these, growth domestically might slow notably with reversal of some capital account measures and an increase in the government share of growth.

OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Operating performance

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Net interest income	56,048	54,348	3%
Non-interest income	26,131	25,257	3%
Operative revenue	82,179	79,605	3%
Operating expenses	39,362	37,500	5%
Operating profit	42,817	42,105	2%
Provisions and contingencies	13,263	7,759	71%
Profit before tax	29,554	34,346	(14%)
Provision for tax	5,097	7,973	(36%)
Net profit	24,457	26,373	(7%)

Operating revenue increased by 3% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) from Rs. 79,605 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 82,179 crores in fiscal 2026. Net interest income (NII) increased by 3% from Rs. 54,348 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 56,048 crores in fiscal 2026. Non-interest income consisting of fee, trading and other income increased by 3% from Rs. 25,257 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 26,131 crores in fiscal 2026. Operating expense increased by 5% from Rs. 37,500 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 39,362 crores in fiscal 2026. As a result, the operating profit increased by 2% to Rs. 42,817 crores from Rs. 42,105 crores reported last year. Provisions and contingencies increased by 71% from Rs. 7,759 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 13,263 crores in fiscal 2026 mainly due to increase in provision on non-performing loans, additional one-time provision of Rs. 2,001 crores made under prudent provisioning framework for standard assets and provision of Rs. 1,231 crores made towards certain set of declassified PSL loans basis an RBI advisory. Provision for tax stood at Rs. 5,097 crores. Consequently, net profit decreased by 7% Y-o-Y from Rs. 26,373 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 24,457 crores in fiscal 2026.

Net interest income

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Interest on loans	99,508	97,200	2%
Interest on investments	25,300	22,928	10%
Other interest income	2,224	2,549	(13%)
Interest income	1,27,032	122,677	4%
Interest on deposits	56,544	53,902	5%
Other interest expense	14,440	14,427	0.1%
Interest expense	70,984	68,329	4%
Net interest income	56,048	54,348	3%
Average interest earning assets1	1,516,383	1,364,266	11%
Average Current Account and Savings Account (CASA)1	441,149	413,419	7%
Net interest margin (NIM)	3.69%	3.98%
Yield on assets	8.38%	8.99%
Yield on advances	9.10%	9.86%
Yield on investments	6.65%	6.84%
Cost of funds	5.16%	5.46%
Cost of deposits	4.85%	5.12%

1 computed on daily average basis

NII constituted 68% of the operating revenue and increased by 3% from Rs. 54,348 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 56,048 crores in fiscal 2026. Yield on assets decreased by 61 bps primarily due to repricing of floating rate loans, linked to external benchmarks rates such as repo as notified by RBI. Repo rate has decreased from 6.25% to 5.25%. Cost of funds also decreased by 30 bps. As a result, the NIM decreased by 29 bps Y-o-Y to 3.69% in fiscal 2026.

During this period, the yield on interest earning assets decreased from 8.99% in fiscal 2025 to 8.38% in fiscal 2026. The yield on advances decreased by 76 bps from 9.86% in fiscal 2025 to 9.10% in fiscal 2026. The decrease in yield on advances is mainly due to decrease in repo rate and higher interest reversals due to higher slippages in fiscal 2026 as compared to fiscal 2025. ~73% of the loans of the Bank are floating rate loans, linked to external/internal benchmark rates. The yield on investments decreased by 19 bps during fiscal 2026.

Repricing of term and saving deposits during the course of fiscal 2026 has led to the decrease in cost of funds by 30 bps from 5.46% in fiscal 2025 to 5.16% in fiscal 2026. Cost of deposits decreased to 4.85% from 5.12% last fiscal mainly due to decrease in funding cost of term deposits and savings deposits. Daily average CASA ratio as a proportion to deposits decreased by 146 bps in fiscal 2026 to 38% from 39% in fiscal 2025.

Performance of the Bank against the key drivers for the NIM improvement journey of the Bank in fiscal 2026 is as follows:

• Improvement in Balance Sheet mix: loans and investments comprised 89% of total assets as at the end of fiscal 2026;

• INR denominated loans comprised 96% of total advances at the end of fiscal 2026;

• Retail and CBG advances comprised 67% of total advances as at 31 March 2026;

• Balance outstanding in low-yielding priority sector shortfall deposits decreased by Rs. 5,761 crores Y-o-Y with priority sector short fall deposits comprising 0.46% of total assets as at 31 March 2026 as compared to 0.90% at 31 March 2025;

• Quality of liabilities at 31 March 2026 measured by outflow rate stood at 28.8%.

The Bank earned interest on income tax refund of Rs. 64 crores in fiscal 2026 as compared to Rs. 369 crores in fiscal 2025. The receipt, amount and timing of such income depends on the nature and determinations by tax authorities and is hence neither consistent nor predictable.

Non-interest income

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Fee income	24,444	22,504	9%
Trading profit	1,374	2,059	(33)%
Miscellaneous income	313	694	(55)%
Non-interest income	26,131	25,257	3%

Non-interest income comprising fees, trading profit and miscellaneous income increased by 3% to Rs. 26,131 crores in fiscal 2026 from Rs. 25,257 crores last year and constituted 32% of the operating revenue of the Bank.

Fee income increased by 9% to Rs. 24,444 crores from Rs. 22,504 crores last year and continued to remain a significant part of the Banks non-interest income. It constituted 94% of non-interest income and contributed 30% to the operating revenue in fiscal 2026. Growth in reported fee income was mainly on account of increase in business across segments.

Segmental composition of fee income continued to remain stable Y-o-Y as under -

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25
Retail Banking	72%	72%
Wholesale Banking	25%	25%
Commercial Banking	3%	3%

Retail Banking fees constituted 72% of the total fee income of the Bank in fiscal 2026 and grew strongly at 8% on a Y-o-Y basis. Fees from retail cards grew 6% Y-o-Y in fiscal 2026 while retail non-card fees grew by 8%.

Fee income derived from the Wholesale Banking segment has increased Y-o-Y at 10% of the Banks total fee income. Within Wholesale Banking, granular transaction banking fees grew 10% Y-o-Y. Fee income from the Banks CBG (Commercial Banking Group) that lends to small and medium enterprises accounted for 3% of the Banks total fee income for fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2025 and grew strongly at 17% Y-o-Y.

During fiscal 2026, trading profits without considering impact of mark-to-market gain/(loss) on revaluation of investments increased by 66% to Rs. 2,250 crores from Rs. 1,359 crores last year mainly on account of higher profits on the SLR portfolio and foreign exchange gain. This is after netting off the MTM losses on forex and derivative contracts in fiscal 2026 due to impact of tightening of foreign exchange rules regarding net open position, non-deliverable forwards etc. by RBI.

The Bank recognised mark-to-market loss on revaluation of investments of Rs. 875 crores in fiscal 2026 as compared to a mark-to- market gain on revaluation of investments of Rs. 701 crores in fiscal 2025, due to headwinds in markets at year end arising from geopolitical conflicts.

The Banks miscellaneous income in fiscal 2026 stood at Rs. 313 crores compared to Rs. 694 crores in fiscal 2025, comprising mainly income from display of publicity material amounting to Rs. 185 crores as compared to Rs. 258 crores in fiscal 2025.

Operating revenue

The operating revenue of the Bank increased by 3% to Rs. 82,179 crores from Rs. 79,605 crores last year. The core income streams (NII and fees) constituted 98% of the operating revenue, reflecting the stability of the Banks earnings.

Operating expenses

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Staff cost	12,266	12,193	1%
Depreciation	1,809	1,699	6%
Other operating expenses	25,287	23,608	7%
Operating expenses	39,362	37,500	5%
Cost : Income Ratio	47.90%	47.11%
Cost: Asset Ratio	2.28%	2.46%

Y-o-Y growth rate in operating expenses moderated to 5% in fiscal 2026 as compared to 6% in fiscal 2025 with operating expenses increasing to Rs. 39,362 crores from Rs. 37,500 crores last year. The Bank continued to invest in technology and human capital for supporting the existing and new businesses. 30% of total cost increase was on account of investments in technology and future growth, 21% of the total cost increase was volume linked and balance 49% was business as usual expenses which was partially offset by reduction in integration costs.

Staff cost remained stable at Rs. 12,266 crores in fiscal 2026 as compared to Rs. 12,193 crores in fiscal 2025. The Banks employee strength at the end of fiscal 2026 was at 101,337, which is a decline of 3% as compared to 104,453 employees as at the end of fiscal 2025.

On 21 November 2025, the Government of India consolidated 29 existing labour laws into a unified framework of four Labour Codes (including the Code on Social Security, 2020), collectively referred to as the ‘New Labour Codes. Since Q3 of fiscal 2021, based on a prudent internal policy, the Bank has been consistently provisioning for gratuity liability, in anticipation of the implementation of the Code on Social Security, 2020. In Q3 of Fiscal 2026, the Bank performed a preliminary assessment of the financial impact of the New Labour Codes based on the draft Central Rules and FAQs published by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, in line with the guidance from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and charged to its Profit and Loss Account an amount of Rs. 25.44 crores towards gratuity, primarily due to changes in the wage definition. The Bank will continue to monitor the finalization of Central and State rules relating to the New Labour Codes and adjust its estimates and provisions in subsequent reporting periods for gratuity and other aspects of the New Labour Codes, in accordance with applicable accounting standards.

Other operating expenses increased by 7% from Rs. 25,307 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 27,096 crores in fiscal 2026. The increase is primarily due to statutory expenses attributable to PSLC, CSR and DICGC premium. There has also been an increase in volume linked costs coming from rising business volumes and investments in technology to support future business growth. Rate of increase in expenses has moderated in fiscal 2026 to 5% as compared to 6% in fiscal 2025.

The Operating Expenses to Assets ratio decreased by 18 bps to 2.28% for fiscal 2026 as compared to 2.46% last year. Operating profit

During fiscal 2026, the operating profit of the Bank increased by 2% to Rs. 42,817 crores from Rs. 42,105 crores last year on account of steady growth in operating revenues, partially offset by a moderated growth in operating expenses.

Provisions and contingencies

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Provision for non-performing assets	13,026	11,356	15%
Recoveries from written off accounts	(3,542)	(3,809)	-
Provision for restructured assets	2	(1)	-
Other Provisions
• Provision for country risk	25	11	141%
• Provision for standard assets including unhedged foreign currency exposure	2,049	11	-
• Additional provision for delay in implementation of resolution plan	(18)	(38)	-
• Provision for COVID-19 and MSME Restructuring	(195)	(143)	-
• Provision for other contingencies	1,916	372	414%
Total Provision and contingencies	13,263	7,759	71%

During fiscal 2026, provisions (other than provisions for tax) increased 71% Y-o-Y to Rs. 13,263 crores from Rs. 7,759 crores last year. Key items of provisions are explained below -

Provisions for non-performing assets and Recoveries from written off accounts:

The gross slippages increased from Rs. 19,474 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 24,577 crores in fiscal 2026. Prudent application of technical parameters for recognizing slippages and consequent upgrades has led to the additions of Rs. 7,158 crores to gross NPAs and Rs. 2,809 crores to net NPAs for the year ended 31 March 2026 ("Technical Impact"). Technical Impact is largely restricted to cash credit and overdraft products and one-time settled accounts. The Bank provided Rs. 13,026 crores towards non-performing assets compared to Rs. 11,356 crores last year.

The Banks recoveries from written off accounts in fiscal 2026 were lower, amounting to Rs. 3,542 crores as against Rs. 3,809 crores in fiscal 2025.

Other provisions:

• Provisions for standard assets:

The Bank made a provision of Rs. 2,049 crores for standard assets including unhedged foreign currency exposure compared to Rs. 11 crores last year.

• During fiscal 2026, the Bank made a provision for standard assets of Rs. 657 crores as against a provision of Rs. 66 crores made in fiscal 2025 on account of increase in advances.

• During fiscal 2026, the Bank also made a provision of Rs. 161 crores in fiscal 2026 as compared to write-back of Rs. 55 crores made in fiscal 2025 for unhedged foreign currency exposure.

• During the year ended 31 March 2026, following an RBI advisory, post its FY25 annual inspection, the Bank in Q2FY26 made an additional one-time standard asset provision of Rs. 1,231 crores for declassified PSL loans. The customer terms remain unchanged. This provision will be written back to the P&L upon all the declassified loans being made compliant, recovered or closed in the normal course, not later than March 31, 2028. No divergence in asset quality or NPA provisioning was identified in the said annual inspection.

• During fiscal 2026, the Bank had a write-back in provision Rs. 18 crores in fiscal 2026 as compared to write-back of Rs. 38 crores in fiscal 2025 pursuant to implementation of resolution plan in certain accounts.

• During fiscal 2026, there was a write-back of Rs. 195 crores in provision for loans subjected to COVID-19 and MSME restructuring mainly on account of slippages and recoveries, as compared to a write back in provision of Rs. 143 crores in fiscal 2025.

Provisions for other contingencies:

• During fiscal 2026, the Bank took the initiative to further strengthen its balance sheet by voluntarily enhancing its prudent provisioning framework for standard assets. In line with this framework, an additional one-time provision of Rs. 2,001 crores was made during the quarter. This measure is entirely prudent and does not indicate any concerns regarding asset quality or adverse credit developments in the Banks loan or investment portfolio as of the reporting date.

As at the end of fiscal 2026, the cumulative non-NPA provisions held by the Bank amounted to Rs. 15,473 crores with a standard asset coverage ratio (all non-NPA provisions / standard assets) of 1.26%.

Provision for tax

Provision for tax for fiscal 2026 stood at Rs. 5,097 crores as compared to Rs. 7,973 crores for last year.

In the fiscal year 2023, the Bank acquired Citibanks India Consumer Business from Citibank N.A. (acting through its branch in India) ("CBNA") and the NBFC Consumer Business from Citicorp Finance (India) Limited ("CFIL") collectively referred to as Citi India Consumer Business on a going concern basis. In accordance with an independent valuers report, intangibles (excluding goodwill) amounting to Rs. 8,714.24 crores were recognised in the Banks financial statements. Despite retaining access to and business use of these assets, as a prudent measure aimed at protecting its capacity to pay dividends, the Bank opted to fully amortise these intangibles through the Profit and Loss account in Fiscal 2023. Furthermore, the Bank elected not to create any deferred tax asset in Fiscal 2023 on such intangibles, nor did the Bank consider the deductibility on the said intangibles while providing for current tax in the books until the regular tax assessment for the said financial year was completed. During the year ended 31 March 2026, following the conclusion of regular assessment proceedings by the income tax authorities, tax depreciation on these intangibles was allowed. As a result, the tax expense for Fiscal 2026 is lower by Rs. 2,193.20 crores, which includes the reversal of excess tax provisions made in prior years amounting to Rs. 1,129.80 crores, reduction of current years tax expense by Rs. 265.85 crores and recognition of a deferred tax asset of Rs. 797.55 crores.

Net profit

Net profit for fiscal 2026 decreased by 7% Y-o-Y to Rs. 24,457 crores as compared to the net profit of Rs. 26,373 crores last year.

Asset Quality Parameters

The Bank added Rs. 24,577 crores to Gross NPAs during fiscal 2026 with the ratio of Gross NPAs to gross customer assets declining to 1.23% at the end of March 2026 from 1.28% as at the end of March 2025. The Bank added Rs. 14,009 crores to Net NPAs after adjusting for recoveries and upgradations of Rs. 3,109 crores and Rs. 7,459 crores, respectively and the Banks Net NPA ratio (Net NPAs as percentage of net customer assets) increased marginally to 0.37% from 0.33%. Prudent application of technical parameters for recognizing slippages and consequent upgrades has led to the additions of Rs. 7,158 crores to gross NPAs and Rs. 2,809 crores to net NPAs. The Banks provision coverage ratio excluding prudential write-offs during the fiscal stood at 70%. The Banks accumulated prudential write-off pool stood at Rs. 44,631 crores as at end of fiscal 2026.

During the fiscal, the quantum of low rated pool of BB and below accounts (excluding investments and non-fund based exposure) decreased and stood at Rs. 1,774 crores as compared to Rs. 2,548 crores at the end of fiscal 2025. The aggregate outstanding in such low rated pool of BB and below investments and non-fund based accounts was Rs. 833 crores and Rs. 706 crores respectively as at the end of March 2026.

The fund based outstanding of standard loans under COVID -19 resolution scheme at 31 March 2026 stood at Rs. 958 crores or 0.07% of gross customer assets. There is no outstanding with respect to linked non-fund based outstanding for which there has been no change in original terms. Outstanding restructured loans under the MSME scheme stood at Rs. 105 crores. The Bank holds a provision of Rs. 197 crores on these restructured assets.

Key ratios

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25
Basic earnings per share (Rs.)	78.82	85.28
Diluted earnings per share (Rs.)	78.31	84.77
Book value per share	656.96	576.67
Return on equity (%)	13.15%	16.52%
Return on assets (%)	1.45%	1.74%
Net interest margin (%)	3.69%	3.98%
Profit per employee ( lakh)	23.79	25.45
Loan to Deposit ratio (Domestic)	91.45%	88.47%
Loan to Deposit ratio (Global)	92.34%	88.73%

Technical Impact has impacted the reported values of gross slippages, net slippages, credit costs, NPA ratios, ROA% and ROE%, hence are not comparable on a like-for-like basis to previous year.

Basic Earnings per Share (EPS) was Rs. 78.82 compared to Rs. 85.28 last year, while the Diluted EPS was Rs. 78.31 compared to Rs. 84.77 last year.

Return on Equity (RoE) was 13.15% for fiscal 2026 as compared to 16.52% in fiscal 2025. Return on Assets (RoA) was 1.45% in fiscal 2026 from 1.74% last year. Book Value per Share increased by 14% to Rs. 656.96 from Rs. 576.67 last year while profit per employee decreased marginally at Rs. 23.79 Lakhs per employee.

Loan to Deposit (CD) ratio of the Bank as on 31 March 2026 was at 92.34% with a domestic CD ratio of 91.45%.

Balance Sheet parameters Assets

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Cash and bank balances	1,04,903	99,732	5%
Government securities	3,73,899	308,076	21%
Other securities	71,134	88,066	(19%)
Total investments	4,45,033	396,142	12%
Retail advances	6,73,468	622,897	8%
Corporate advances	4,12,943	299,393	38%
SME advances	1,47,159	118,521	24%
Total advances	12,33,570	1,040,811	19%
Fixed assets	6,549	6,292	4%
Other assets1	96,795	66,953	45%
Total assets	18,86,850	1,609,930	17%

1 includes Priority Sector Lending deposits of Rs. 8,690 crores (previous year Rs. 14,450 crores)

Total assets increased by 17% to Rs. 18,86,850 crores as on 31 March 2026 from Rs. 1,609,930 crores as on 31 March 2025, driven by 19% growth in advances and 12% growth in investments.

Advances

Total advances of the Bank as on 31 March 2026 increased by 19% to Rs. 12,33,570 crores from Rs. 10,40,811 crores as on 31 March 2025. Retail advances comprised 55% of total advances and grew by 8% to Rs. 6,73,468 crores, corporate advances comprised 33% of total advances and grew by 38% to Rs. 4,12,943 crores and SME advances constituted 12% of total advances and grew by 24% to Rs. 1,47,159 crores.

Domestic advances of the Bank as on 31 March 2026 grew by 18% to Rs. 11,88,744 crores from Rs. 1,011,101 crores as on 31 March 2025. Further, domestic corporate advances of the

Bank as on 31 March 2026 increased by 36% to Rs. 3,70,028 crores from Rs. 2,71,471 crores as on 31 March 2025.

The retail lending growth was led by Small Banking Business (SBB) and Bharat banking loans (rural lending). Home loans remain the largest retail segment and accounted for 26% of retail loans, rural lending (Bharat Banking) 15%, loans against property (LAP) 13%, personal loans (PL) and credit cards(CC) were 19%, auto loans 9% and Small Business Banking (SBB) at 12%, while non-schematic loans comprising loan against deposits and other loans accounted for 6%.

Investments

The investment portfolio of the Bank grew by 12% to Rs. 4,45,033 crores. Investments in Government and other approved securities, increased by 21% to Rs. 3,73,899 crores. Other investments, including corporate debt securities, decreased by 19% to Rs. 71,134 crores. 81% of the government securities have been classified in the HTM category, while 25% of the bonds and debentures portfolio has been classified in the AFS category.

Other Assets

Other assets of the Bank as on 31 March 2026 increased to Rs. 96,795 crores from Rs. 66,953 crores as on 31 March 2025, primarily on account of increase in Mark-to-Market (MTM) asset on forex and derivative contracts amounting to Rs. 48,477 crores as on 31 March 2026 as compared to Rs. 20,496 crores as on 31 March 2025 which was partially offset by a decrease in Priority Sector Shortfall deposits from Rs. 14,450 crores as on 31 March 2025 to Rs. 8,690 crores on 31 March 2026.

Liabilities and shareholders funds

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Capital	622	619	0.3%
Reserves and Surplus	2,03,573	177,998	14%
Total shareholders funds	2,04,194	178,617	14%
Employee stock option outstanding (net)	1,342	1,108	21%
Deposits	13,35,834	1,172,952	14%
• Current account deposits	1,84,776	166,799	11%
• Savings bank deposits	3,44,136	311,389	11%
• CASA	5,28,912	478,188	11%
• Retail term deposits	4,38,917	383,563	14%
• Non-retail term deposits	3,68,005	311,201	18%
• Total term deposits	8,06,922	694,764	16%
Borrowings	2,35,271	184,147	28%
• In India	1,86,103	149,839	24%
• Infra bonds	22,551	20,551	10%
• Outside India	49,168	34,308	43%
Other liabilities and provisions	1,10,209	73,106	51%
Total liabilities and shareholders funds	18,86,850	1,609,930	17%

Shareholders funds

Shareholders funds of the Bank increased from Rs. 1,78,617 crores as on 31 March 2025 to Rs. 2,04,194 crores as on 31 March 2026. This is mainly on account of profits earned during fiscal 2026.

Deposits

The total deposits of the Bank increased by 14% to Rs. 13,35,834 crores against Rs. 11,72,952 crores last year. Savings Bank deposits reported a growth of 11% to Rs. 3,44,136 crores, while Current Account deposits reported increase of 11% to Rs. 1,84,776 crores. As on 31 March 2026, low-cost CASA deposits stood at Rs. 5,28,912 crores and constituted 40% of total deposits. On a daily average basis, Savings Bank deposits, increased by 6% to Rs. 3,02,567 crores, while Current Account deposits grew by 8% to Rs. 1,38,582 crores. The percentage share of CASA in total deposits, on a daily average basis, was at 38% compared to 39% last year.

Borrowings

The total borrowings of the Bank increased by 28% from Rs. 1,84,147 crores in fiscal 2025 to Rs. 2,35,271 crores in fiscal 2026. The Bank has issued debt instrument amounting to Rs. 5,000 crores in the form of "long-term bonds against Infrastructure and affordable housing" (Infrastructure bonds) in India.

Other Liabilities and provisions

Other liabilities of the Bank increased by 51% over the year to Rs. 1,10,209 crores as on 31 March 2026 from Rs. 73,106 crores as on 31 March 2025, which is mainly on account of increase in Mark-to-Market (MTM) liability on forex and derivative contracts to Rs. 45,827 crores as compared to Rs. 19,929 crores last year.

Contingent Liability

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25	% change
Claims against the Bank not acknowledged as debts	1,911	1,477	29%
Liability for partly paid investments	145	127	14%
Liability on account of outstanding forward exchange contracts	1,421,102	1,256,589	13%
Liability on account of outstanding derivative contracts:	1,267,665	1,369,593	(7%)
• Interest Rate Swaps, Currency Swaps, Forward Rate Agreement & Interest Rate Futures	1,190,196	1,236,293	(4%)
• Foreign Currency Options	77,468	133,300	(42%)
Guarantees given on behalf of constituents	168,717	141,189	19%
• In India	145,290	121,699	19%
• Outside India	23,427	19,490	20%
Acceptances, endorsements and other obligations	71,093	55,341	28%
Other items for which the Bank is contingently liable	98,900	51,332	93%
Total	3,029,533	2,875,648	5%

Capital Management

The Bank continues its endeavour for greater capital efficiency and shoring up its capital adequacy to enhance shareholder value.

The Banks overall capital adequacy ratio (CAR) under Basel III stood at 16.42% at the end of fiscal 2026, well above the benchmark requirement of 11.50% stipulated by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Of this, the Common Equity Tier I (CET I) CAR was 14.38% (against minimum regulatory requirement of 8.00%) and Tier I CAR was 14.78% (against minimum regulatory requirement of 9.50%). As on March 31, 2026, the Banks Tier II CAR under Basel III stood at 1.64%.

The organic business of the Bank consumed 29 bps (net) of CET I in fiscal 2026.

Movement of CET I during fiscal 2026	%
CET-1 as on 31 March 2025	14.67
Accretion	1.87
Consumption	(2.16)
CET-1 as on 31 March 2026	14.38

The Banks Risk Weighted Assets (RWA) to Asset ratio as at the end of fiscal 2026 was 72%. The Banks capital position continues to be strong and is sufficiently robust for it to pursue growth opportunities with adequate liquidity buffers.

The following table sets forth the capital, risk-weighted assets and capital adequacy ratios computed as on 31 March 2026 and 31 March 2025 in accordance with the applicable RBI guidelines under Basel III.

(Rs. in crores)

Particulars	2025-26	2024-25
Tier I capital	200,032	173,944
Tier II capital	22,252	23,113
Out of which
• Tier II capital instruments	13,000	14,846
• Other eligible for Tier II capital	9,252	8,267
Total capital qualifying for computation of capital adequacy ratio	222,284	197,057
Total risk-weighted assets and contingencies	1,353,452	1,154,075
Total capital adequacy ratio	16.42%	17.07%
Out of above
• Common equity tier I capital ratio	14.38%	14.67%
• Tier I capital ratio	14.78%	15.07%
• Tier II capital ratio	1.64%	2.00%

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

In 2019, we launched our ‘Growth Profitability and Sustainability strategy, also known as the ‘House of GPS. Over the years, as part of annual reviews of the House of GPS, we have added areas of distinctiveness, key themes for the Bank to focus on and other changes to reflect the priorities of the Bank and accounting for the changing environment. The House of GPS, as it stands today, continues to reflect our aspirations and remain relevant. Our overall strategy, and specific business and function strategies, are aligned with our core philosophy of GPS -

• Growth: Accelerate deposits growth, focus on profitable advances, achievement of leadership positions across our focus areas, drive One Axis-led growth across the Group and scale-up of subsidiaries and Axis Digital Bank

• Profitability: Focus on profitability and NIM, growth in fee income, improve operating efficiency, optimise costs, strengthen collections infrastructure and maintain control over credit cost

• Sustainability: Strengthen governance across the Group with an integrated assurance approach to enhance risk management, robust audit and compliance culture, retain high-quality talent, strengthen underwriting, technology and analytical capabilities and a robust operations platform

As part of the GPS initiatives, under the ‘One Axis vision, we are focused on creating a ‘one-stop solution for banking needs by integrating the strengths of the subsidiaries with the Bank.

Focus on granular, risk-adjusted, higher-yielding segments has enabled us to deliver on our ROE aspirations and control credit costs. Our best-in-class mobile banking application, digital/analytical capabilities, and emerging technology, such as generative AI, gives us the right to win in digital banking. The Bank focuses on reimagining end-to-end journeys, transforming the core, and becoming a partner of choice for ecosystems. While the macro-economic environment continues to evolve amidst geo-political uncertainties, India remains a bright economic spot, giving us an incredible opportunity to tap into the growing capex / infrastructure/investment boom. We have a self-sustaining capital structure adequate to fund organic growth. Our transformation projects have enabled us to reach closer to our GPS ambitions - ‘Neo (offers end-to-end digital journeys with DIY onboarding, for banking as well as beyond-banking needs of MSMEs), ‘Siddhi (a super app that empowers our colleagues to engage seamlessly with customers), granularisation and premiumisation of liability franchise, focus on cost optimisation, drive collection transformation and set up next generation collection architecture for the Bank. We have also started yielding visible results due to our investments in long-term ‘distinctiveness drivers - ‘Axis 2.0 (becoming Indias Best Tech Bank), Bharat Banking (tapping the high growth potential in rural and semi-urban markets), ‘Sparsh (customer obsession program to aid improvement in NPS rankings).

We remain committed to our GPS strategy of working towards Growth, Profitability and Sustainability over the medium- term and aim to become a resilient, all-weather franchise.

Retail Banking

Over the past decade, the Bank has built a strong and scalable Retail Banking franchise that remains a core pillar of its growth strategy. Anchored in a customer-first philosophy, differentiated product capabilities, and an extensive phygital distribution network, the Retail franchise continues to address the evolving financial needs of a diverse customer base across life stages and segments.

The Banks Retail Banking business offers a comprehensive suite of products and services spanning deposits, payments, wealth management, and lending, catering to retail customers, small businesses, non-resident Indians (NRIs), and retail institutions. These offerings are supported by increasingly digital-first, secure, and intuitive platforms that enhance convenience, accessibility, and customer engagement. During fiscal 2026, the Retail Banking segment contributed 55% to the Banks advances and 72% to the Banks fee income.

On the liabilities side, the Bank provides a wide range of solutions, including savings and current accounts, term deposits (fixed and recurring), and customised deposit products tailored to varying customer preferences and liquidity requirements. Retail lending spans home loans, loans against property, automobile and two-wheeler loans, commercial vehicle loans, personal loans, gold loans, education loans, credit cards, small business banking loans, and agriculture loans, among others enabling the Bank to participate across a broad spectrum credit demand segments.

Beyond core banking products, the Retail Banking franchise offers an integrated ecosystem of services, including debit and credit cards, forex cards, bill payments, and wealth management solutions. The Bank also distributes third-party financial products such as mutual funds, life and non-life insurance, Government bonds, and other investment products, enabling customers to meet their savings, investment, and protection needs through a single, trusted platform.

The Retail strategy continues to focus on deepening customer relationships by increasing wallet share, acquiring high- quality new customers, and delivering a consistently superior customer experience. Central to this strategy is a lifecycle- based engagement model, supported by advanced data analytics and technology capabilities that enable deeper customer insights, targeted engagement, and timely, relevant product offerings. During fiscal 2026, the Bank accelerated its digitisation agenda across sales, service, and branch operations, leveraging automation, analytics, and streamlined processes to enhance operational efficiency and turnaround times. These initiatives are driving a more seamless, intelligent, and responsive banking experience across channels.

With a strong liability franchise, a diversified product portfolio, and a robust digital and analytics backbone, the Bank believes it is well positioned to sustainably capture long-term growth opportunities in Indias retail financial services landscape.

Retail Deposits

The Banks deposit franchise continued to strengthen during fiscal 2026, supported by robust customer acquisition funnels, an expanded distribution footprint, differentiated product propositions, and sustained momentum in the Salary and Burgundy segments.

The Existing-to-Bank (ETB) franchise exhibited steady growth over the past year, with the ETB Savings Account (SA) book increasing by 3.13% since March 2025, led by broad-based growth across segments. Ongoing process improvements and digitisation initiatives enabled a reduction of over 50% in turnaround time for SA account opening, significantly enhancing the customer onboarding experience. Further, the introduction of a personalised engagement calendar through Siddhi for quarterly customer connects improved overall customer contactability to 80%. The Bank also delivered a 5% improvement in servicing through Straight Through Processing (STP), driven by targeted product enhancements such as facial authentication.

The Bank continues to sharpen its strategic focus on deposit premiumisation, with an emphasis on increasing the share of premium accounts in new acquisitions and deepening engagement with affluent and emerging affluent customer segments. This calibrated approach involves strengthening premium product propositions while progressively moderating dependence on lower-variant offerings in metro and urban markets.

This strategic repositioning reflects evolving market dynamics and underscores the Banks objective of enhancing profitability, strengthening brand differentiation, and improving the overall quality of the deposit franchise. The Bank remains focused on expanding its premium product suite, leveraging technology-led capabilities, and delivering superior, seamless customer experiences to support sustainable long-term growth.

In parallel, the Bank has undertaken targeted process simplification initiatives aimed at eliminating friction points, strengthening end-to-end digital journeys, and enhancing service capabilities across channels, including phone banking. These measures have contributed to improved customer outcomes and a reduction in service-related complaints. As at the end of fiscal 2026, the Bank maintained a stable CASA mix, with CASA deposits constituting 40% of total deposits.

The Bank also continued to enhance its corporate salary and worksite engagement model, reimagining worksites beyond the traditional helpdesk approach. Strategic brand partnerships with leading electric two-wheeler manufacturers, multinational electronics companies, and consumer durable players enabled deeper employee engagement and strengthened presence across corporate ecosystems and induction programs.

The Bank remains committed to strengthening its fraud prevention framework and regulatory safeguards, supported by continued investments in robust onboarding controls. Customer onboarding processes have been fortified through multi-layered verification mechanisms, including comprehensive validation using NSDL and UIDAI databases, end-to-end authentication of contact details, enhanced customer risk profiling, and a re-engineered geo-tagging framework to improve the accuracy and reliability of address verification.

Digital banking continues to play a pivotal role in reinforcing the Banks retail liabilities franchise. By enabling frictionless and scalable onboarding, delivering personalised propositions, and driving data-led customer engagement, digital capabilities are enhancing acquisition efficiency and deepening customer relationships. The integration of savings, investment, and lending solutions into a unified digital ecosystem is further strengthening relationship value, fostering long-term customer loyalty, and increasing share of wallet.

As part of its customer experience-led transformation agenda, the Bank launched a Lean Digital Savings Account onboarding journey for existing asset and payments customers. This offering leverages pre-filled demographic and Know Your Customer (KYC) information, requiring customers to provide only incremental details along with initial funding, thereby significantly reducing onboarding effort and turnaround time. In the assisted mobile onboarding space, the Bank has emerged as an early adopter of UIDAIs facial recognition-based KYC solution, enabling secure and seamless onboarding through Aadhaar-based authentication. Additionally, a real-time savings account application tracker was introduced, providing customers with end-to- end visibilityf romapplicationsubmissionthroughaccountactivation, thereby enhancingtransparencyandcustomerconfidence.

The Bank also maintained a strong focus on retail term deposits during fiscal 2026, leveraging its robust acquisition channels to onboard new individual customers. This was supported by a comprehensive revamp of digital deposit journeys, including the ability to book fixed deposits using external funds and invest in non-callable fixed deposits through digital channels. Further, individual current account customers can now seamlessly book fixed deposits via WhatsApp, enhancing convenience and accessibility. As a result of these initiatives, total term deposits recorded a year-on-year growth of 16% in fiscal 2026.

Branch Banking

The Banks physical network expansion strategy is anchored in enhancing accessibility and fostering deeper customer relationships. Over the years, this has enabled the development of a geographically diversified branch footprint across the country. Branch additions are driven by detailed assessments of customer segments and population characteristics, aligned with the Banks Retail Banking objectives. Expansion remains balanced across metropolitan, urban, semi-urban, and rural locations, enabling stronger district-level engagement through a focused micro-market framework.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank crossed the milestone of 6,000 branches, supported by the addition of 400 branches during the year. As at March 31, 2026, the Bank operated 6,739 banking outlets, comprising 6,265 branches, 3 Digital Banking Units, 10 extension counters, 151 specialised lending branches, and 310 Business Correspondent and Banking Outlets (BCBO). This expansion reflects the Banks sustained focus on enhancing access to banking services across diverse geographies.

The branch network is complemented by an extensive infrastructure of 12,796 ATMs and cash recyclers. In addition to facilitating cash withdrawals and deposits, these touchpoints support self-service banking and fulfilment requirements. The Banks physical presence spans 712 districts across 28 states and 7 Union Territories, underscoring its pan-India reach.

The Bank promotes a fair and equitable relationship between the Bank and its customers. The Bank treats all customers fairly and does not discriminate customers on any grounds such as gender, age, religion, caste, literacy, economic status, or physical disability. To cater to the needs of "persons with disabilities", the Bank has enabled its ATMs with braille keypad and talking functionality (voice guidance). In respect of Bank branches which are not easily accessible, ramps are constructed wherever feasible, for facilitating access to persons with disabilities. Adequate seating arrangements and support for banking services are provided. Certain large offices have special equipment, such as wheelchairs for ease of movement. We also provide doorstep banking for ease of operations for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Customers in need of assistance can contact the designated officer at their branch or may bring it to the notice of the Nodal Officer.

In line with its focus on enhancing customer convenience and accessibility, the Bank offers doorstep banking services to senior citizens and persons with disabilities, enabling easier access to essential banking transactions. Customers may avail these services through their respective branches or escalate concerns, if required, to the designated Nodal Officer.

Retail Lending

Retail lending in India is undergoing a significant technology- driven transformation, marked by a decisive shift towards digital- first operating models. The Bank is well positioned to capitalise on this evolving landscape.

The Banks retail loan book remains well diversified, delivering healthy and profitable growth across products and quality customer segments. This performance is underpinned by enhanced digital journeys, targeted customer programs, deeper ecosystem partnerships, and increased internal sourcing, supported by strengthened risk management frameworks.

Together, these capabilities provide a robust foundation for scaling retail lending sustainably across product segments.

Siddhi, the Banks in-house, industry-first comprehensive mobile platform, continues to support the frontline retail lending team by enabling faster loan application processing, providing a holistic customer view, and driving a disciplined sales rhythm to enhance productivity.

Mortgage

The Mortgages business, comprising Home Loans and Loans Against Property (LAP), delivered steady growth during fiscal 2026, supported by improved profitability. The Salesforce Dot Com (SFDC) platform for Home Loans is in the process of achieving full adoption across all Retail Asset Centres (RACs), enhancing process efficiency and consistency.

The Bank also introduced enhanced programs under the Asha Home Loan segment and launched an industry-first digital platform for the builder ecosystem. These initiatives have strengthened operational efficiency while improving transparency across stakeholder interactions.

Consumer loans

The Personal Loans business continued to gain momentum, driven by superior end-to-end digital journeys that enhance customer onboarding and improve sourcing channel efficiency. The business primarily onboards customers through internal channels, with ongoing refinement of sourcing criteria and proactive risk interventions based on early risk indicators.

In Education Loans, the Bank remains focused on scaling this strategically important segment, given its potential to establish long-term, relationship-driven engagement early in a customers financial lifecycle. The Banks positioning in this segment is supported by seamless digital onboarding journeys, expanded institutional coverage, a strengthened distribution network, and tailored programs for specific customer segments.

Wheels

The Bank continues to invest in digital platforms to enhance resource productivity, enable frictionless processing, and deliver best-in-class turnaround times, thereby strengthening its position as a preferred financing partner. Focus remains on sourcing quality customers and optimising portfolio mix across commercial vehicles, commercial equipment, passenger vehicles, and two-wheelers through prudent counterparty selection based on income assessment, bureau performance, and banking behaviour markers.

The Bank has established partnerships with leading electric vehicle (EV) original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing EV financing segment, reinforcing its commitment to innovative, customer- centric financing solutions aligned with emerging mobility trends.

In parallel, the Bank continues to expand its branch network and enhance digital sourcing platforms across urban and rural markets, while deepening dealer relationships to support sustainable business growth.

Bharat Banking

Indias rural and semi-urban (RuSu) markets continue to play a pivotal role in the countrys economic transformation. Rising rural consumption, increasing mechanisation in agriculture, improved connectivity, and accelerating adoption of digital financial services are expanding opportunities across these geographies. Government-led initiatives to promote financial inclusion, strengthen rural infrastructure, and formalise credit flows have further accelerated the integration of rural economies with the formal financial system.

Aligned with the Banks commitment to inclusive growth, Bharat Banking continues to deepen its presence across RuSu markets by expanding distribution, strengthening ecosystem partnerships, and leveraging technology-enabled delivery models. The Banks approach remains centred on building strong linkages across the "Farm to Folk" ecosystem, serving farmers, agri value-chain participants, rural entrepreneurs, and micro-enterprises through a comprehensive suite of financial solutions.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank further strengthened its distribution footprint across rural and semi-urban markets. The Bharat Banking network expanded to 2,924 branches, reinforcing the Banks presence across key rural clusters and emerging geographies. This physical network is complemented by a network of 20,922 Common Service Centre (CSC) Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), which play a critical role in enabling last-mile service delivery and improving access to banking services in remote locations.

The Bank continues to build strong ecosystem partnerships with large corporates, agri-tech companies, financial technology firms, and participants across the agricultural value chain. These collaborations enhance market access, enable entry into new customer segments, and support the delivery of tailored credit and deposit solutions aligned with evolving rural customer needs.

Bharat Banking maintained a steady growth trajectory during fiscal 2026, with advances growing by 4% year-on-year, supported by strong momentum across key rural lending segments such as Gold Loans, Tractor Finance, and Microfinance, which have outperformed industry growth trends. On the liabilities side, deposits from Bharat branches grew by 13% year-on- year, reflecting continued focus on relationship-led deposit mobilisation.

The Bank also strengthened its engagement across key rural economic ecosystems, particularly agricultural mandis, which serve as critical hubs for rural trade and financial flows. During fiscal 2026, the Bank expanded its presence to 899 mandis, enabling deeper engagement with farmers, traders, and allied stakeholders across the agricultural value chain. This ecosystem- led approach supports both asset and liability growth while reinforcing the Banks local market presence.

Product innovation continues to be a key focus area within Bharat Banking. During fiscal 2026, the Bank introduced offerings tailored to rural customer needs, including Overdraft on Gold through UPI, and enhanced product variants such as MSME Gold and Agri Gold with revised features. Within the microfinance segment, the Bank launched Self-Help Group (SHG) financing, expanding its support to community-based financing structures and women-led enterprises.

Bharat Banking remains a key contributor to the Banks Priority Sector Lending (PSL) strategy and its broader objective of driving inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Customer engagement initiatives continue to strengthen relationship depth and cross-sell. The Banks "Connecting the Dots" (CTD) customer referral program progressed to Phase 3 during fiscal 2026, achieving over 16,000 conversions during the year. The program has been further expanded through deeper integration across Bharat and non-Bharat branches, enabling broader participation and improved customer acquisition.

Technology continues to be a critical enabler of operational efficiency and customer experience in Bharat Banking. During fiscal 2026, the Bank strengthened its digital capabilities, with adoption of "Siddhi," the Banks CRM platform, exceeding 95% across the field workforce. The Bank also expanded the deployment of AI-driven tools to enhance productivity, lead management, and customer engagement. In addition, Salesforce (SFDC) has been fully implemented across key verticals such as Tractor Finance and Micro (Unsecured), improving underwriting efficiency, reducing turnaround times, and enhancing customer journeys.

The Bank continues to strengthen its collections framework across RuSu markets through a balanced approach combining digital infrastructure with on-ground engagement models. Data-driven monitoring and advanced analytics are being leveraged to improve recovery efficiency. Within the microfinance portfolio, fiscal 2026 witnessed a reversal in bounce rates in line with broader industry trends, supported by improved collection performance and enhanced portfolio stability.

Driving financial inclusion remains a core pillar of the Banks Bharat Banking strategy. The Bank continues to support Government initiatives such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) through its branch network, Business Correspondent (BC) partners, and CSC VLE ecosystem. The Bank is also leveraging co-origination partnerships in microfinance to expand credit access for underserved rural households.

The Bank continues to scale its efforts under Social Security Schemes (SSS), including insurance and pension offerings aimed at improving financial resilience among rural households. The integration of digital onboarding journeys has enabled smoother customer enrolment and enhanced service delivery across these schemes.

The Bank remains committed to maintaining robust risk management and compliance frameworks across its rural portfolio. Expansion across Bharat Banking continues in a calibrated manner, supported by prudent underwriting standards, agile policy frameworks, and strong monitoring mechanisms. The Bank also ensures adherence to evolving regulatory guidelines related to agriculture lending, co-lending structures, and MSME financing.

Going forward, Bharat Banking will continue to focus on expanding its presence in underserved markets, strengthening ecosystem partnerships, and leveraging technology to deliver seamless financial solutions across rural India. With its strong distribution network, digital capabilities, and ecosystem-led approach, the Bank is well positioned to drive sustainable growth across both assets and liabilities while contributing to the broader agenda of financial inclusion and rural economic development.

Priority Sector Lending

Priority Sector Lending (PSL) remains a core pillar of the Banks commitment to driving inclusive and sustainable economic growth. It continues to shape the Banks strategy to expand credit access across underserved segments of the economy. In fiscal 2026, the Bank successfully achieved its overall PSL targets and sub-targets, demonstrating a robust internal framework for meeting regulatory requirements.

During the fiscal 2026, the Bank undertook sustained efforts to deepen its presence across priority sectors identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Focused initiatives were implemented to scale credit deployment across key areas such as agriculture, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and affordable housing. These efforts were aimed at enhancing credit penetration, supporting income-generating economic activity, and addressing structural financing gaps across both rural and urban markets.

The agriculture sector, which continues to face limited and uneven access to formal credit, remains a key focus area for the Bank. Growth in agriculture advances forms an integral part of the Banks Bharat Banking strategy. During fiscal 2026, the Bank strengthened its presence in rural markets through technology-led initiatives and expansion of its distribution network. The Bank continues to enhance credit delivery across the agriculture value chain, supporting farmers and enabling sustainable ecosystem development. Its product suite includes crop loans under Kisan Credit Card (KCC), investment credit for farm infrastructure, financing for farm mechanisation, and loans for allied activities. These offerings are tailored to meet the needs of small and marginal farmers and support compliance with PSL sub-targets relating to agriculture.

The Bank continued to expand its reach through various initiatives aimed at improving access to credit for income-generating activities aligned to the needs of local communities while widening the reach and support for financial inclusion. Focus remained on scaling small-ticket lending within rural ecosystems, including crop loans for small and marginal farmers and microfinance lending to women borrowers from low-income households, while maintaining a prudent risk approach. Individual loans extended to graduating microfinance borrowers to support business expansion, along with financing for small MSME units linked to the agriculture ecosystem, remained key growth drivers.

These efforts were complemented by enhancements in digital and process capabilities, enabling timely and efficient credit delivery across priority segments. Alongside expanding credit flow, the Bank strengthened its internal systems and control framework to enable effective monitoring of credit utilisation and portfolio quality.

As part of its broader approach to strengthening the rural and semi-urban economy, the Bank provides financing to food and agri-processors, rural MSMEs, and participants across corporate supply chains through a suite of need-based products. Both Retail and Commercial Banking segments maintain a focused approach to MSME lending, which is a critical component of PSL. By expanding credit access to these enterprises, the Bank supports entrepreneurship, job creation, and economic resilience in rural and semi-urban regions.

The Bank continues to leverage partnerships with Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to extend credit to priority sector borrowers, enabling deeper penetration into underserved geographies and customer segments. Co-lending arrangements with select NBFCs and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) remain an important lever for building PSL advances, combining complementary strengths such as customer reach, product expertise, and risk-sharing mechanisms. In parallel, the Bank continues to explore alternate structures such as securitisation and lending to NBFCs and MFIs for onward lending, to further enhance credit flow to priority sectors.

These initiatives collectively support the Banks objective of strengthening its PSL portfolio in a calibrated and sustainable manner, while contributing meaningfully to the broader agenda of financial inclusion and economic development.

Retail Payments

The payments landscape continued to evolve during fiscal 2026, driven by rapid digitisation, changing customer behaviour, and evolving industry guidelines. Cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) remained central to non-cash transactions, alongside rising competition across issuers, acquirers, and platform providers. Customers increasingly gravitated towards simple, reliable, and high-frequency payment modes, with heightened expectations around seamless experiences, consistency of service, and transparency across payment journeys.

Against this backdrop, the Bank focused on strengthening its Cards and Payments franchise while pursuing calibrated growth aligned with portfolio quality, operating discipline, and long-term sustainability. Management emphasis remained on balancing scale with engagement, and growth with risk and cost considerations. This approach is reflected in a 4% growth in the cards portfolio, 21% growth in UPI Third Party Application Provider (TPAP) partnerships, and 19% growth in merchant terminals during fiscal 2026.

Credit Cards

In credit cards, the Bank focused on calibrated customer acquisition, improving activation rates, and sustaining portfolio quality. The Bank strengthened its partnership ecosystem through new card launches with Google Pay Flex, Supermoney, and Indigo, and commenced new acquisition under the Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card, with a focus on travel-led value propositions.

Key initiatives during fiscal 2026 included the expansion of EMI-led propositions through "Always-on EMI," with EMI-led spends accounting for 10% of total spends. This was complemented by enhancements to digital fulfilment journeys on the Axis Bank mobile application and strengthened merchant partnerships to drive affordability-led offerings. These initiatives contributed to a 25% year-on-year growth in EMI transactions during fiscal 2026.

The Bank continued to adopt a technology-first approach, enabling fully integrated API-led onboarding and card issuance journeys, push provisioning capabilities through the mobile application, and seamless single-click EMI functionality to enhance customer experience. Alongside acquisition, the Bank focused on deepening engagement within the existing customer base through lifecycle-based personalised offers, instant nudges, and portfolio upgrade programs aimed at improving utilisation and strengthening customer relationships.

In parallel, the Bank strengthened its underwriting and monitoring frameworks, with tighter sourcing guardrails and enhanced lifecycle interventions to support portfolio stability. These actions reflected managements response to evolving portfolio performance trends, with tighter sourcing guardrails and enhanced monitoring supporting improved portfolio outcomes. Operational efficiency and servicing consistency across the card lifecycle remained key areas of focus.

Merchant Acquiring

The Merchant Acquiring business continued to scale through targeted distribution and aggregator partnerships, with the Bank regaining leadership in terminal base with a market share of 22%. The Bank also became the first acquirer to go live with Amazon under the Payment Aggregator model.

Growth was supported by expansion of the terminal base and increased penetration across merchant segments and geographies. Management focus remained on improving operating efficiency and deepening merchant relationships beyond transaction acquiring, with an emphasis on positioning the Bank as the primary banking partner for merchants.

Cross-sell of deposits and lending to merchants continued to be a key lever for enhancing overall relationship value. During fiscal 2026, initiatives focused on improving merchant onboarding journeys, settlement processes, and service consistency, supporting deeper engagement while maintaining discipline on pricing and operating costs.

UPI and Digital Payments

In UPI, the Bank prioritised sustaining scale and reliability amid evolving industry incentive structures. Focus areas included strengthening partnerships, improving transaction success rates, and identifying monetisation opportunities aligned with prevailing guidelines. The Bank strengthened its leadership in the UPI Payer Payment Service Provider (PSP) market, achieving a market share of ~36%.

UPI continued to serve as a high-engagement platform, driving frequent customer interactions and acting as a key touchpoint within the broader digital ecosystem. This was reflected in 45% growth in UPI transaction volumes during fiscal 2026. Innovation remained a key focus, with initiatives such as biometric authentication for UPI transactions and enablement of additional account types on UPI applications supporting sustained organic growth.

The Bank operates a hybrid infrastructure model, offering both on-premise and cloud-based connectivity to TPAPs and aggregators based on partner requirements. This scalable and resilient architecture has supported strong transaction reliability, resulting in lower technical declines relative to peer banks.

Strong UPI partnerships, combined with the "One Axis" approach, enabled deeper engagement with salary account relationships and strengthened the Banks position as a preferred partner for corporate payouts. This focus contributed to leadership in UPI and IMPS payout volumes.

Technology, Operations, and Customer Experience

During fiscal 2026, management focus remained on strengthening operational resilience as transaction volumes scaled. Enhancements to monitoring frameworks and response mechanisms supported consistent system performance, particularly during peak usage periods.

Technology investments were directed towards enhancing processing capacity, strengthening API integrations, and improving system resilience across cards, acquiring, and UPI platforms. Digital issuance, real-time decisioning, and self-service capabilities contributed to faster turnaround times and improved customer experience, while simplification of customer journeys reduced reliance on assisted channels. Continued focus on platform stability and scalability supported consistent performance across high-volume payment environments.

Customer experience remained a key priority, with initiatives focused on reducing friction across journeys, enhancing communication clarity, and enabling faster issue resolution. Increased digital containment, strengthened assisted service models, and proactive interventions contributed to improvements in customer satisfaction metrics. These efforts were complemented by a continued focus on consistency of execution across channels as the business scaled.

Governance and Controls

The Bank further strengthened its governance and control framework across Cards and Payments. Enhancements to onboarding checks, transaction monitoring systems, and observation closure processes were implemented in response to evolving regulatory guidelines and internal assurance feedback. Structured review mechanisms, combined with regular engagement with assurance functions and proactive issue identification, supported timely remediation and reinforced first- line accountability.

Outlook

Going forward, the Bank will continue to focus on disciplined growth, improved unit economics, and deeper customer engagement across Cards and Payments. Key priorities include enhancing digital adoption, strengthening partnership-led distribution, and leveraging data and analytics to maximise lifecycle value, while maintaining robust governance and control standards as the franchise continues to scale.

Retail Forex and Remittance business

Cross-border payments remain a key pillar of the Banks international banking franchise, supporting retail, SME, and corporate customers with secure, compliant, and efficient foreign exchange solutions. During fiscal 2026, the Bank operated in a dynamic global macroeconomic environment characterised by currency volatility, evolving regulatory frameworks, and an accelerating shift towards digital-first customer preferences. The Bank processed forex transactions aggregating USD 5.2 billion (~Rs. 47,000 crores) during fiscal 2026.

While inward remittance flows remained stable and resilient, outward remittances and the Forex Card portfolio witnessed moderation compared to the previous financial year. In response, the Bank undertook calibrated strategic initiatives to reposition these segments for sustainable growth, while strengthening risk governance and enhancing operational efficiency.

In October 2025, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) integrated the CCIL (Clearing Corporation of India Limited) FX Retail platform with Bharat Connect (formerly BBPS), enabling retail customers to purchase foreign exchange for remittances, forex cards, and currency notes through leading digital applications. This initiative facilitates access to competitive real-time FX Retail rates through a fully digital and transparent customer experience. The Bank emerged as an early adopter of this platform, supporting the next phase of Indias retail FX ecosystem.

Inward Remittances

During fiscal 2026, the Bank reinforced its position as a trusted partner for inward cross-border remittances, leveraging its established correspondent banking network to enable seamless credit of funds across geographies. Focused efforts were undertaken to enhance straight-through processing (STP) levels from ~40% to ~56%, enabling faster credit to beneficiary accounts. To further improve customer experience, documentation requirements for non-STP transactions were streamlined. The Bank continues to invest in technology and process optimisation to drive higher levels of automation and scalability.

Outward Remittances

The Bank offers a comprehensive suite of outward remittance solutions, including education fee payments, medical remittances, family maintenance transfers, capital account transactions, and other permissible cross-border payments, in compliance with prevailing regulatory guidelines. During fiscal 2026, outward remittance flows moderated, largely reflecting evolving regulatory dynamics and geopolitical developments impacting overseas education and travel-related transactions.

In response, the Bank initiated strategic recalibration measures and strengthened collaborations with fintech partners to drive cross-border flows, transitioning from a transaction-led approach to a more integrated, ecosystem-driven model. Digitisation remains central to this strategy, with ~83% of outward remittance transactions processed through digital channels, enhancing speed, convenience, and transparency for customers.

The Bank continues to prioritise robust risk management and regulatory compliance while delivering seamless and cost- efficient international fund transfer solutions.

Forex Cards

The Forex Card portfolio witnessed moderation during fiscal 2026, reflecting tempered outbound travel demand, pricing pressures, and increasing adoption of alternative digital payment solutions. Notwithstanding near-term contraction, Forex Cards remain a strategically important offering, providing customers with a secure and convenient alternative to cash for international travel, business, and education-related expenses.

Product enhancements remained a key priority, including strengthened multi-currency offerings, contactless capabilities, enhanced fraud monitoring and transaction security frameworks, and improved turnaround times for issuance and reloads.

The Bank is repositioning its Forex Card proposition through sharper customer segmentation, expansion of digital distribution channels, and targeted cross-sell initiatives across affluent and student segments.

Technology, Risk, and Outlook

The Bank continues to invest in the technology-led transformation of its cross-border payments ecosystem. Strategic priorities include deeper API integrations, enhanced compliance automation, corridor expansion, and improved digital customer journeys enabled by data and analytics.

With increasing global mobility and cross-border financial flows, the Bank remains well positioned to capture emerging opportunities across retail foreign exchange and remittance businesses, while maintaining high standards of compliance, security, and service excellence.

Third-Party Distribution

The Third-Party Products business continues to be a key pillar of the Banks diversified fee income model. Through a comprehensive suite of investment and protection solutions, the Bank enables customers to meet their financial goals across life stages while strengthening long-term relationships.

During fiscal 2026, the Third-Party Distribution business focused on deepening customer penetration, expanding partner ecosystems, and leveraging digital capabilities to deliver a seamless advisory and transaction experience. The Bank operates a multi-partner distribution model, offering curated products across life insurance, health insurance, general insurance, mutual funds, and alternative investment products.

Through partnerships with leading insurance providers, the Bank offers a comprehensive range of risk protection solutions tailored to diverse income segments and customer risk profiles.

As at March 31, 2026, the Banks mutual fund Assets Under Management (AUM) stood at Rs. 91,326 crores. The Bank continues to be among the leading banking distributors in the industry, servicing a mutual fund customer base of ~1.25 million as at March 31, 2026.

The Bank continued to be one of the largest Bancassurance player in terms of both Life and Non-Life Insurance volume among private Banks with an annual fee growth of 18% in Life Insurance and 9% in Non-Life insurance in fiscal 2026.

The Banks dedicated in-house research desk plays a key role in identifying and curating mutual fund schemes based on rigorous qualitative and quantitative evaluation parameters. The Bank currently distributes schemes from 27 Asset Management Companies (AMCs) through its extensive branch network and digital channels, aligning offerings with customers lifecycle needs and investment preferences.

The Bank also offers online and offline trading services in collaboration with Axis Securities Limited under the Axis Direct platform. Through its branch network, the Bank has sourced ~5.84 million customers for Axis Direct, with around 6.93 lakh customers added during fiscal 2026.

With a strong customer franchise, a diversified product portfolio, and a technology-enabled advisory model, the Third-Party Distribution business is well positioned to drive sustainable fee income growth while enhancing customer lifetime value.

Wealth Management

The Banks Wealth Management business continued to demonstrate steady scale expansion and consistent growth during fiscal 2026. Under the Burgundy franchise, the Bank managed wealth assets of Rs. 6.78 trillion as at March 2026, reflecting the depth of client trust and the strength of its franchise.

Anchored in the ‘One Axis ecosystem—integrating banking, wealth management, asset management, investment banking, and capital markets—the Bank offers one of the most comprehensive propositions for high net worth (HNI) and ultra-high net worth (UHNI) clients in India. This integrated model enables the delivery of a broad suite of solutions tailored to clients financial aspirations, investment preferences, and risk profiles.

Recognising the distinct wealth management needs of diverse customer segments—including affluent professionals, first-generation entrepreneurs, business families, senior citizens, and non-resident Indians (NRIs)—the Bank remains focused on supporting clients across their wealth creation and preservation journeys. Its open architecture model provides curated access to a wide range of investment solutions, including Portfolio Management Services (PMS), Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), mutual funds, fixed income instruments, and alternative assets.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank further strengthened its product platform by adding two mutual fund Asset Management Companies (AMCs) and 20 PMS/AIF partners, enhancing both the breadth and quality of investment offerings available to clients.

The Banks proposition is supported by a dedicated team of wealth specialists and investment professionals with deep expertise across asset classes. This is complemented by in-house economic research capabilities and partnerships across the Axis ecosystem, enabling the design of customised investment strategies aligned to clients evolving financial goals.

As Indian investors increasingly diversify globally, the Bank continues to strengthen its international wealth platform through GIFT City. This enables efficient access to India-focused investment opportunities for NRI clients while supporting resident clients in diversifying across global markets through structured solutions designed to optimise geographic risk allocation.

In line with evolving customer preferences, the Bank continues to enhance digitally enabled investment journeys. Through ‘Open, its flagship mobile banking platform, clients can seamlessly invest across asset classes including NPS, mutual funds, insurance, and sovereign bonds. Digital channels contributed over Rs. 8,055 crores in mutual fund gross sales during fiscal 2026, reflecting strong adoption and engagement.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank launched its NextGen online investment platform, offering a more intuitive and efficient experience across both web and mobile channels. Early adoption trends have been encouraging, contributing to an enhanced customer investment journey

Affluent Banking

The Burgundy franchise continues to strengthen its position as a comprehensive offering for HNI and emerging affluent clients. During fiscal 2026, the Bank further enhanced its value proposition through an integrated suite of banking, investment, and insurance solutions, powered by digital capabilities and a highly skilled relationship management workforce.

The affluent banking franchise is supported by a network of over 580 Relationship Managers, 485 Premium Service Managers, and 20 Wealth Specialists across more than 350 branches. This expanding footprint has enabled deeper penetration into Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, where demand for curated wealth and investment solutions is growing.

The NRI segment remains a key strategic priority within the Banks premiumisation agenda. The Bank provides personalised banking, investment, and service experiences to NRI clients through integrated digital and remote channels. In addition to core banking solutions, NRI customers are offered a broad range of India focused investment products through our digital platforms. The segment is supported by more than 480 dedicated Relationship Managers and over 400 virtual Relationship Managers, enabling consistent and high-quality engagement across geographies.

Overall, fiscal 2026 reflected continued expansion, capability enhancement, and franchise strengthening within the affluent banking business. The Bank remains focused on investing in people, platforms, and partnerships to address the evolving financial needs of affluent and globally connected clients. The franchise remains committed to delivering a differentiated, seamless, and future ready wealth experience.

Private Banking

Burgundy Private, the Banks private banking franchise catering to UHNI and HNI clients, completed six years of operations during fiscal 2026. The business continues to scale, managing client assets of over Rs. 2.4 trillion across more than 16,000 families, including 40 of the Forbes 100 richest Indians, with a presence across 52 cities.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank expanded the Burgundy Private proposition to 10 additional Tier-2 cities, aligned with its strategy to tap the growing UHNI population in these markets. The franchise continues to benefit from strong operational synergies across the ‘One Axis ecosystem, delivering incremental value to clients.

Burgundy Private has continued to receive international recognition for service excellence, including awards such as ‘Indias Best for Next-Gen at the Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards 2025 for the third consecutive year, and ‘Best Private Bank for HNWIs at The Asset Triple A Awards 2025. During fiscal 2026, the franchise received nine awards across five platforms.

Burgundy Private Partners are at the centre of ensuring that our clients "Experience the Power of One". The people strength in our private banking arm has grown to more than 250 vintaged Burgundy Private Partners with an average working experience of over 15 years. They are ably supported by a well-trained team of more than 125 Service Partners to ensure superior service delivery. The 1:2 Service Partner to Partner ratio, which is among the best in the industry, is part of our strategy to ensure service delivery is always prioritised. Burgundy Private clients benefit from the expertise of our dedicated team of Investment Counsellors and Insurance Specialists, who are certified and trained for the purpose.

‘Burgundy Private Experiences, our flagship program which brings to our clients curated events across various genres such as music, arts, dining, and thought leadership has built an identity of its own and our clients look forward to being invited to such events. In Fiscal 2026, the Bank organised 51 exclusive events covering 21 cities, which helped 1,500+ Burgundy Private clients get together to network with like-minded patrons.

Burgundy Private franchise has been consistently pursuing excellence and has been dedicated to enhancing service delivery in Private Banking, with customer centricity at the centre. The Bank has successfully established a strong brand identity for Burgundy Private, defined by credibility and lasting recognition through strategic partnerships. With the growth that India is witnessing in the wealth management space, Burgundy Private is well poised to deliver strong growth in the coming years.

Digital Banking

Digital Banking remains a core strategic focus area and a key differentiator for the Bank. As an early mover in launching a dedicated "Digital Bank," the Bank has, over the past several years, made sustained investments in building in-house, proprietary digital-native capabilities. These investments have enabled end-to-end digital journeys across products and services, supporting the Banks broader digital consumer lending ambitions.

During fiscal 2026, digital banking continued to play a central role in enhancing customer engagement across both retail and wholesale segments, with digital platforms emerging as the primary mode of interaction for a wide range of banking needs. The Banks efforts remained focused on driving growth through increased adoption, deeper engagement, and consistent customer experience. Digital channels supported rising transaction volumes and increasing complexity in a stable and controlled manner, reinforcing operational resilience as digital adoption accelerated. Strengthened core journeys and growing self-service adoption enabled scalability and efficiency, supporting long-term value creation.

The Banks digital ecosystem spans end-to-end journeys across retail and corporate banking, delivered through mobile and internet banking platforms, WhatsApp, APIs, and corporate digital platforms. The operating model integrates direct digital journeys led by the Digital Business and Transformation function with assisted digital journeys enabled by relationship managers and branch teams. This hybrid model allows customers to seamlessly transition between self-service and assisted channels while enhancing productivity and service quality. Together, these channels support a wide range of customer needs across payments, deposits, lending, servicing, and engagement.

Payments continue to serve as a foundational element within the Banks digital ecosystem, representing one of the most frequent customer interaction points. Digital platforms support high-volume, always-on transaction activity across retail and wholesale segments. During fiscal 2026, digital payments have grown, reflecting the increasing role of digital channels in customers daily financial activities. Reliability, continuity, and consistent performance remain critical to sustaining customer trust as transaction intensity continues to increase.

The Bank further strengthened its digital servicing capabilities, with an increasing proportion of routine service requests being fulfilled through digital workflows. Approximately 70% of branch service requests were enabled digitally during fiscal 2026, contributing to faster turnaround times and improved service consistency. Enhanced automation and straight-through processing (STP) capabilities have reduced manual intervention, enabling faster outcomes while maintaining robust controls. This shift has driven greater adoption of self-service journeys, allowing frontline teams to focus on higher-value interactions and exception management.

As digital usage deepened, the Bank placed strong emphasis on enhancing security and customer trust. Several customer-centric initiatives were introduced during fiscal 2026. Features such as ‘FD Lock were launched to safeguard deposits by restricting premature digital closures, while Mobile App-based OTP authentication reduced reliance on SMS-based verification, mitigating risks such as SIM swap fraud. A digital face authentication framework was implemented across select journeys to enable secure identity verification. Additionally, the "Safety Centre" within the mobile application was enhanced, allowing customers to manage account security settings, control transaction permissions, login access, and authentication preferences, and to take immediate action in case of suspected fraud.

The Bank also strengthened customer engagement capabilities through initiatives aimed at improving financial awareness and well-being. ‘My Money, the personal finance management feature within the mobile application, enables customers to access a consolidated view of balances, spending patterns, credit behaviour, and investments. Features such as net worth tracking, categorised spending insights, and personalised recommendations support informed financial decision-making.

Digital lending capabilities were further expanded across retail and small business segments. The Bank offers a wide range of digital lending solutions, including personal loans, business loans, overdrafts against deposits, loans against securities, home loans, vehicle loans, and working capital financing. These journeys are delivered through both direct digital and assisted models, with continued emphasis on improving conversion rates, enhancing customer experience, and maintaining prudent underwriting standards.

On the wholesale side, ‘Neo, the Banks digital banking platform for corporate clients, continued to see increased adoption and deeper engagement. The platform integrates payments, trade finance, forex, treasury, and servicing capabilities into a unified interface, enabling clients to manage financial operations seamlessly. API-based integrations allow corporates to embed banking services into their internal systems, improving efficiency, automation, and control over financial processes.

The Bank also continued to enhance its digital reach and engagement through improvements to its customer-facing platforms. A redesigned website with improved navigation, performance, and content structure was launched, facilitating easier access to information. Content-led engagement initiatives such as ‘Open Dialogue and the Learning Hub were further scaled, fostering informed customer interactions. The Bank also expanded its presence across social media platforms to improve accessibility and relevance.

Customer experience remained a central focus across digital channels. The Banks mobile banking application, ‘Open, continued to receive strong customer feedback, with average ratings of 4.8 on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store as at 31 March 2026. This reflects sustained improvements in usability, reliability, and platform performance.

As digital adoption continues to accelerate, digital platforms form an integral and resilient layer of the Banks operating model. With a growing share of customer interactions being handled digitally across retail and wholesale segments, ongoing investments in platforms, journeys, and operating models will continue to strengthen scalability, reliability, and customer trust.

Performance of Digital Banking Units

Digital Banking Units (DBUs) play a pivotal role in advancing Axis Banks digital transformation agenda by delivering banking services through a robust, paperless and technology-driven infrastructure. These units act as enablers in expanding the Banks digital footprint, complimenting traditional brick-and-mortar formats while promoting seamless, self-service banking experiences.

In line with the Government of Indias vision announced during FY23 to establish 75 DBUs across 75 districts, Axis Bank operationalized its DBUs in Bhilwara and Bundi (Rajasthan) and Itarsi (Madhya Pradesh) in October 2022. As on March 31, 2026, Axis Bank operates three DBUs, continuing to strengthen digital adoption

The number of deposit accounts including saving bank accounts, current accounts and term deposit accounts sourced through DBU was 1,042 in fiscal 2026. The Bank also originated 22 loans processed through DBU in fiscal 2026.

Wholesale Banking and products

The Bank stands as a leading and all-encompassing Wholesale Banking franchise in the country, addressing every banking need of the Corporates. We are building on our strong foundation with distinct, innovative strategies that differentiate us in a competitive landscape and set the stage for next-year growth.

Throughout the fiscal year 2026, our focus remained on fostering deeper client relationships and delivering comprehensive banking solutions. By leveraging our ‘One Axis approach across different business segments and subsidiaries, we successfully encompassed the entire corporate value chain.

The Wholesale Coverage Group offers a wide array of products and services such as cash credit facilities, demand and short- term loans, project finance, export credit, trade services, forex and derivative solutions, payment and cash management systems, tax payments, salary accounts, trust services, commercial and credit cards, and much more. Backed by a dedicated Wholesale Banking Products team, we provide customized solutions to meet the diverse financing needs of our clients.

The Banks Wholesale Coverage serves diverse customer segments ranging from SMEs, Start-ups, Large and mid-corporates, MNCs, Financial institutions and intermediaries, PSUs and Government departments through its sharpened coverage structure, as follows:

• Mid-Corporates & Medium Enterprises Group (MEG): focuses on fast growing enterprises and MSMEs

• Large Corporates: Covers Indias leading corporates and conglomerates, delivering integrated solutions across lending, treasury, trade, cash management and capital market linkages under the One Axis framework.

• Focused Segmental Coverage: Covering PSUs, Government-owned entities, Multinational companies, Start-ups, Real Economy corporates (Infrastructure and real estate companies) and Financial institutions

Wholesale Banking Coverage Group

The Wholesale Banking Coverage Group (WBCG) remains a key pillar of the Banks wholesale banking strategy, offering an integrated suite of solutions across lending, liabilities, transaction banking, trade, foreign exchange (FX), capital markets, custody, and digital channels. Through the ‘One Axis framework, the Group delivers end-to-end solutions that support client working capital cycles, investment requirements, treasury management, and overall cash flow optimisation

Business Performance Review

During fiscal 2026, WBCG continued to rebalance its franchise towards transaction-led and fee-based revenue streams, while strengthening liability mobilisation in a competitive funding environment. Current account, escrow, and payroll propositions were further deepened across corporate client segments, supporting improvement in self-funded ratios.

Asset growth remained calibrated and aligned to sectoral trends, portfolio concentration norms, and the Banks risk appetite. Asset quality was resilient, supported by enhanced early warning systems, market intelligence capabilities, and strengthened credit governance frameworks.

Non-credit income was driven by higher Cash Management Services (CMS) volumes, increased trade flows, foreign exchange activity linked to sponsor-led and cross-border transactions, and escrow flows from capital markets and real estate ecosystems. Productivity improvements were achieved through the adoption of digital Credit Appraisal Memorandum (CAM) workflows, enhanced ecosystem mapping, and closer cross-functional collaboration.

Strategic Progress and Operating Priorities

Liability led Growth — Focused initiatives deepened CA balances, scaled digital collections, expanded payroll relationships and integrated CMS offerings through APIs (Application Programming Interface and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) connectors.

Strengthening Non-credit Revenues — Stable fee income was driven by cash management, FX, trade finance, custody and escrow solutions.

Digital and AI Integration — Automation of credit workflows, AI-enabled monitoring, CRM driven analytics and digital onboarding enhanced efficiency, speed and governance.

Risk Management and Portfolio Discipline — Enhanced portfolio surveillance, automated triggers, stronger collateral discipline and improved stress testing frameworks supported calibrated risk outcomes.

Sectoral Highlights

WBCG maintained broad-based engagement across key sectors, including manufacturing and industrials, renewables and energy transition, infrastructure and real estate, technology and digital commerce, and financial sponsors. Expansion remained selective and aligned with the Banks risk-return framework and portfolio diversification objectives.

Medium Enterprise Group

The Medium Enterprise Group (MEG) is an integral part of the Banks Wholesale and Commercial Banking strategy, serving fast-scaling, professionally managed enterprises through a relationship-led and integrated operating model.

MEG combines sectoral expertise, transaction banking capabilities, and digital platforms to deliver customised financial solutions across the business lifecycle, supported by the ‘One Axis framework and the Banks ‘Dil Se Open philosophy.

With a pan-India presence, strong regional connect, and disciplined underwriting practices, MEG has delivered consistent growth in both advances and deposits. More than 75% of the portfolio qualifies under Priority Sector Lending, reflecting the Groups alignment with the Banks PSL objectives.

A granular and well-diversified portfolio, supported by ongoing digitisation initiatives—including straight-through processing (STP)- enabled renewals—has strengthened operational efficiency, profitability, and customer experience within the MEG franchise.

Commercial Banking Coverage Group (CBG)

The Commercial Banking Coverage Group (CBG) is a key business franchise and a strategic growth engine for the Bank, playing a critical role in driving Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) lending, strengthening Priority Sector Lending (PSL), and supporting overall profitability and balance sheet composition.

CBG serves the evolving needs of MSMEs across their end-to-end value chain, spanning credit, trade and foreign exchange solutions, liabilities, and transaction banking services. The franchise also offers tailored banking propositions for business owners and their employees, enabling a comprehensive and integrated financial ecosystem across the business lifecycle.

The MSME sector continues to be a cornerstone of the Indian economy, demonstrating resilience and adaptability in a dynamic operating environment. In this context, CBG remains focused on addressing diverse MSME requirements through customer- centric, digital-first, and innovation-led solutions. The franchise continues to strengthen its positioning as a "one-stop MSME solutions provider," supported by best-in-class digital platforms, customised offerings, and a robust credit delivery framework.

Enhanced digital capabilities, including platforms such as ‘Neo and digitised renewal journeys, have streamlined servicing and improved turnaround times. Relationship managers, supported by real-time insights and advanced analytics, enable proactive and personalised engagement with customers, strengthening relationship depth and service quality.

As of March 2026, the CBG book stands at Rs. 147,159 crores. CBG continues to be an important contributor to the Banks PSL strategy, generating stable and high-quality priority sector assets.

Wholesale Banking Products

The Bank has strengthened its position as a transaction bank of choice across current accounts, cash management, and trade and supply chain finance, supported by continued market share gains. The Bank remains focused on delivering differentiated and integrated transaction banking solutions to clients across corporate, commercial banking, financial institutions, and government segments.

As part of its wholesale digital agenda, ‘NEO by Axis Bank represents the Banks strategic commitment to building a leading digital transaction banking franchise. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities, including API banking, Corporate Internet Banking, host-to-host integrations, and strategic ecosystem partnerships.

The Bank continues to develop solutions aligned with varying levels of client digital maturity, enabling seamless adoption across segments. In addition to a robust API suite that enables corporates to integrate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems with the Bank, a Corporate Developer Portal has been launched to empower digitally advanced clients with self-integration capabilities through a do-it-yourself model.

Cash Management

The Bank offers comprehensive cash management solutions across customer segments and continues to maintain a leadership position in transaction volumes across NEFT and IMPS platforms. Its API Banking suite has been further strengthened to support high transaction processing speeds, catering to digitally advanced clients.

The Bank provides account statements in multiple customised formats across various transmission modes, including APIs, enabling straight-through processing (STP) and seamless reconciliation within client ERP systems.

The Bank is authorised to collect Direct Taxes, Goods and Services Tax (GST), and Customs duties, and has enabled digital payment processing through cards and UPI for GST and CBDT collections. Additionally, the Bank is integrated with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for government disbursements and has enabled state tax collections across multiple states.

The Bank is progressively improving on its leadership position in Bharat Connect (earlier known as BBPS) ecosystem and has been amongst the first movers to launch "EV Recharge" category in BBPS along with an industry first instant bill generation capability for utility customers. The Bank continues its dominant position in terms of number of biller onboarding and highest number of transactions amongst private banks and has been leading the way for piloting new initiatives with NBBL, billers & fintech partners.

Commercial Cards

The Commercial Cards business continued to drive innovation by offering tailored payment solutions that enable businesses to optimise cash flows, improve expense management, and enhance working capital efficiency. During fiscal 2026, the Bank further strengthened its digital proposition by enhancing end-to-end issuance and servicing journeys, while expanding the use of commercial cards across business and statutory payment use cases.

A key focus area was strengthening capabilities in B2B and statutory payments through direct integration with platforms such as GST and CBDT portals, enabling seamless and secure tax payments via commercial cards. Supported by robust technology infrastructure and strategic ecosystem partnerships, the Commercial Cards platform continues to play a critical role in enabling efficient corporate payment solutions.

Trade and Supply Chain Finance

The Bank offers a comprehensive suite of trade and supply chain finance (SCF) solutions across domestic and cross-border requirements, delivered through both its branch network and digitally integrated platforms. A dedicated team of product and sales specialists supports clients across exports, imports, guarantees, and liquidity management requirements.

During fiscal 2026, the trade business focused on strengthening cross-border flows by deepening engagement with existing clients and leveraging opportunities across key India-linked trade corridors. The launch of export factoring is expected to support incremental trade flows, enhance revenue streams, and strengthen client relationships.

In supply chain finance, the Bank continued to scale integrated lifecycle solutions, building a balanced portfolio mix spanning granular dealer and vendor financing as well as large structured corporate programs. This approach has driven strong growth in the SCF portfolio and supports the Banks ambition to further strengthen its position in this segment.

Current Account

The Banks continued focus on its transaction banking proposition supported steady growth in current account balances during fiscal 2026. The Current Account (CA) franchise emphasised service excellence to drive client retention and deepen relationships, supported by enhanced adoption of self-service capabilities and streamlined customer journeys, including re-KYC processes.

To further strengthen service delivery, dedicated CA service desks were operationalised across multiple locations, alongside the launch of the ‘Infinity CA onboarding platform, enabling faster and more seamless client onboarding. In addition, WhatsApp Banking capabilities were extended to current account customers, facilitating convenient access to key account information and service requests.

The Bank also launched UPI services for current account customers, enabling eligible business entities—including corporates, partnerships, LLPs, and trusts—to initiate UPI transactions in line with regulatory guidelines, thereby expanding digital payment capabilities.

Treasury & Markets

The Banks Treasury & Markets function encompasses Asset-Liability Management (ALM), Foreign Exchange Trading (including currency derivatives and bullion), Interest Rate Trading (including rupee derivatives), Primary Dealership, Non-SLR Trading (including equities), Debt Capital Markets (DCM - domestic and international), Treasury Sales, Loan Syndication, and Treasury Technology & Governance.

The ALM function is responsible for managing statutory and regulatory liquidity requirements, including the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). The function also oversees the Banks liquidity, interest rate, and foreign exchange risk exposures in line with the frameworks and guidance established by the Asset-Liability Committee (ALCO).

The Foreign Exchange Trading Group is an active participant in domestic and international currency and derivatives markets, undertaking both proprietary trading and market-making activities across a wide range of foreign exchange products.

The Interest Rate Trading (IRT) desk plays a critical role in market-making and trading across Government Securities (G-Secs), Overnight Index Swaps (OIS), and other interest rate-linked instruments. As a Primary Dealer, the Bank meets its regulatory obligations with respect to underwriting, bidding participation, success ratios, and turnover in Government Securities and Treasury Bill auctions.

The corporate bond and equity trading desk undertakes investments across primary and secondary markets, including corporate bonds, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, and equity instruments.

Debt Capital Markets and Syndication

The Bank continues to maintain a leadership position in Debt Capital Markets (DCM), ranking #1 in calendar year 2025, following its return to the top position in 2024. The Bank has also demonstrated sustained performance, having held the #1 arranger position for 16 consecutive years up to calendar year 2022.

The Banks international DCM franchise continues to expand, with mandates from leading corporates for offshore bond issuances, including a track record of arranging Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-compliant transactions.

The Loan Syndication desk plays a key role in arranging financing solutions for corporate clients across domestic and international markets, operating on underwriting, arranger, and best-efforts basis. The desk also undertakes secondary loan market activities, contributing to portfolio optimisation and balance sheet risk management.

Treasury Sales and Client Solutions

Treasury Sales, part of the Banks Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities (FICC) franchise, works in conjunction with coverage teams to deliver customised treasury solutions, including risk management and hedging strategies for a diversified client base. The team offers a wide suite of foreign exchange and derivatives products, supported by strong structuring capabilities and execution expertise.

The business also leads the Banks digital markets platform, ‘Neo for Markets, which integrates client engagement with execution capabilities and supports the delivery of differentiated treasury solutions.

Technology, Governance, and Risk Management

The Treasury Technology & Governance (TTG) function oversees technology implementations across treasury operations and ensures a robust governance framework for all products and activities. The function plays a critical role in ensuring that new products and market activities are consistent with internal risk policies and regulatory guidelines.

SPARSH: Embedding Customer Obsession as a Distinctive Capability

SPARSH continues to be a core enterprise priority and a key area of distinctiveness for the Bank. It reflects the Banks structured approach to strengthening customer experience, deepening trust and embedding customer obsession into the way the organisation operates.

Over the years, SPARSH has evolved into a comprehensive framework anchored in 4 areas: crafting delight journeys, embedding SPARSH values, measuring and acting on customer feedback, and building institutional capabilities. This framework enables the Bank to listen with intent, strengthen key journeys and reinforce ownership across customer touchpoints.

A defining element of SPARSH is the emphasis on leadership ownership of customer outcomes. The Bank continues to encourage direct engagement between leaders, frontline teams and customers, ensuring that customer needs and experiences guide decision-making and execution across levels.

SPARSH also focuses on embedding customer centric behaviours into everyday execution. Through daily ownership rituals, regular cadences, recognition and platform enabled support, the Bank continues to reinforce behaviours that help teams listen with intent, act with speed and take greater ownership of customer outcomes.

During the year, the Bank continued to deepen customer engagement across priority cohorts, including Senior Citizens and NRIs, through structured listening and focused interventions. These efforts support the Banks broader agenda of building more trusted, relationship led and customer need led experiences.

The Bank also continued to strengthen digital and institutional capabilities through platforms such as Adi and Kaleidoscope. These capabilities support employees with faster access to relevant information, improved visibility of customer relationships and more consistent customer conversations across channels. They also enable the Bank to use technology more effectively to support frontline teams, improve response quality and strengthen customer engagement at scale.

SPARSH is embedded across the Banks branch network, digital channels, customer touchpoints and employee base, and continues to be supported by governance mechanisms that reinforce accountability and execution discipline.

Going forward, SPARSH will continue to play an important role in strengthening customer trust, deepening relationships and building differentiated customer delight moments. It remains a distinctive capability for the Bank, bringing together leadership ownership, customer listening and insight, governance and technology to deliver sustainable value.

Business Intelligence Unit

The Business Intelligence Unit (BIU) is a core enterprise capability that anchors the Banks data-led transformation agenda. Operating at scale across businesses, BIU enables consistent, analytics-driven decision-making to support growth, strengthen risk outcomes, enhance customer experience, and improve operational efficiency. BIU solutions are embedded across key functional areas - including marketing, risk, fraud, compliance, collections, financial crime, strategy, and operations—spanning retail, cards, deposits, wholesale, and commercial banking.

BIU brings together a diverse talent base of over 650 professionals across data engineering, advanced analytics, data science, and generative AI. Over recent years, the Unit has continued to mature its operating model through sharper capability segmentation, stronger role clarity in emerging disciplines such as machine learning (ML) engineering and data stewardship, and structured enterprise-wide skill frameworks. These investments have enhanced execution consistency, reduced reliance on bespoke delivery, and improved the scalability of analytics outcomes across the organisation.

Analytics, ML, and generative AI are increasingly embedded into frontline and management decision processes. BIU has played a central role in advancing the Banks data and analytics platform through continued adoption of cloud-enabled data platforms, scalable lakehouse architectures, API-driven services, and modern analytical tooling. Alignment of priority workloads with the Banks hybrid cloud strategy has enhanced resilience, flexibility, and the ability to industrialise analytics use cases at pace.

The Banks data architecture supports more than 2,000 active analytical and decisioning use cases, processing high volumes of data on a daily basis. This environment is underpinned by strong data governance, quality controls, and a unified customer master, enabling improved data consistency, deeper cross-business insights, and enhanced regulatory readiness. These foundations position the Bank to respond effectively to evolving data privacy and compliance requirements, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), while continuing to support innovation.

During fiscal 2026, BIU focused on scaling analytics into repeatable, enterprise-level value. Decision optimisation capabilities were expanded across pricing, credit, collections, and marketing, enabling data-driven trade-offs under real-world constraints. Enhancements in ML engineering reduced model development and deployment timelines, accelerating value realisation. In parallel, targeted generative AI initiatives progressed to automate knowledge-intensive workflows, improve employee productivity, and enhance customer and frontline experiences—establishing a strong platform for sustained, data-enabled growth.

Information Technology and Cyber security

The Information Technology (IT) departments vision is to power the Bank with an always on, secure, and AI-focused technology foundation that transforms strategy into outcomes at scale. The plan is to deliver this by reimagining customer and employee journeys, improving operational efficiency straight through the agentic automation, and strengthening digital and data capabilities including AI-assisted analytics, consent native data and master data management. The Bank will continue to reinforce trust through higher standards of security and reliability-anchored in core modernization, zero trust posture and real-time observability-while driving cost efficiency and improved returns through digital infrastructure and cloud/automation efficiency.

The Bank continues to strengthen its AI journey in alignment with the GPS strategy (Growth, Profitability, Sustainability), advancing digital transformation and innovation under a robust governance framework to ensure scalable, secure, and customer-centric outcomes. AI capabilities are being enhanced across customer servicing and technology delivery through AI-enabled service bots, integrated voice streaming, and strengthened compliance controls. In parallel, software delivery efficiency is being improved through AI-assisted development, enabling faster release cycles, higher code throughput, earlier risk detection, and automated remediation. Governance is being further reinforced through AI-based control checks and stringent policies that promote responsible, compliant, and well-managed use of models across the enterprise.

The Mobile banking platform has been rated 4.8 each on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store from ~0.36 million and ~3.4 million reviews respectively. The Mobile Banking application now has 31 million registered users as of March 2026 and enhanced its channel capabilities by increasing the volume of service requests, with a rise in monthly active users to over ~16 million. The WhatsApp banking platform now serves more than 40 million customers over 50 million communications with new features including corporate account services and comprehensive statement journeys.

The Bank continued to demonstrate strong performance in the UPI ecosystem (as of March 2026), with a VPA base of 2,610 million and supporting ~14.3 million merchant transactions per day on the UPI platform. The Bank has secured the leading position in the UPI Payer PSP segment with an estimated market share by volume improving from 30% in February 2025 to ~36% in March 2026. In addition, the Bank has introduced a robust UPI stack, enabling customized offerings across Software Development Kit, Intent, Collect, and Pay solutions, along with new functionalities such as UPI AutoPay. The Bank also maintains one of the lowest UPI technical decline rates among peer banks, reflecting strong platform stability and reliability.

The Bank has emerged as a leader in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) innovation, with 1 million+ registered customers and 10 million+ transactions, CBDC adoption has grown by nearly 50% from October 2025 to March 2026. As the preferred RBI partner for the Government led Programmable CBDC initiative, the Bank is actively collaborating with multiple ministries and government bodies to drive focused use cases. In the wholesale CBDC space, the Bank has also taken the lead, becoming the first institution to go live with CD tokenization initiatives. Going forward, the Bank aims to strengthen government partnerships, broaden CBDC ecosystem integrations, and connect with Third-Party Application Providers to accelerate mainstream adoption and ecosystem growth.

The Bank has strengthened API security through Aadhaar-seeding controls, Enterprise Service Bus-level encryption, and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) compliance, alongside enhanced monitoring and integration of the API inventory into change-management processes. A centralized control layer now governs all API gateways, ensuring uniform authentication and consistent policy enforcement. As of March 2026, API usage has continued to annually grow at ~17% in monthly request volumes, supported by over 1,012 partner APIs, over 1,076 partner onboardings, and more than 3,160 internal APIs. The developer portal has also expanded, offering 669+ APIs to over 6,884 developers.

The Bank has strengthened infrastructure resiliency through cluster-based disaster recovery (DR) drills and the adoption of Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) practices to enable secure and timely recovery during disruptions. It operates a centralized

IT setup across two primary data centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru (in different seismic zones), supported by a near DR facility in Bengaluru; this modernised architecture is designed for scale with modular expansion and added capacity, and is interconnected via Wide Area Network (WAN) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) for application delivery across domestic and international branches. The Bank is also improving deployment consistency and reducing configuration risk through automated testing and Infrastructure as Code, while reinforcing data protection with encrypted, access controlled failover, Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) aligned handling, and continuous threat monitoring.

The Bank has established an enterprise-wide cyber security program to address the security of information assets and data. The program is governed through an Information Security and Cyber security Policy and associated Standards aligned with recognised industry frameworks and applicable regulatory requirements. The cybersecurity framework is aligned to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and ISO 27001 standards and is implemented across the functional domains of Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover.

The Bank maintains conformance with recognised international standards, including ISO 27001:2022 (Information Security Management System), ISO 27017:2015 (Information Security Controls for Cloud Services), ISO 27034:2021 (Application Security - Letter of Recognition), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) version 4.0.1. The Bank is also certified under ISO 27018 for the protection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in cloud environments. During the period Fiscal 2026, the Bank achieved certification under ISO/IEC 42001:2023 for Artificial Intelligence Management Systems, establishing a formal governance framework for the use of Artificial Intelligence within the organisation. These certifications demonstrate defined security and governance controls across IT infrastructure, applications, cloud deployments, and AI-enabled systems.

The Bank operates a 24x7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) supported by cybersecurity monitoring, detection, and incident response processes. Continuous monitoring is carried out across the Banks digital channels, including monitoring of the dark web and deep web for indicators of potential data exposure and cyber threats. The Banks external cyber risk posture is assessed using independent rating mechanisms, with a BitSight score of 810 out of 900 reported during the period.

The Banks external cyber risk posture is assessed using independent third-party security rating mechanisms. During the reporting period, the Bank recorded a BitSight security rating of 810 out of 900. BitSight ratings are based on continuous external observations of an organisations publicly visible security indicators across defined risk domains, including vulnerabilities, network security, data breach indicators, and security hygiene factors.

To safeguard its information assets against unauthorized access, data loss, cyber attacks and other threats, the Bank has deployed a wide range of preventive, detective and response controls, including:

• Network micro segmentation to minimize the cyberattack surface.

• A robust Enterprise Security Governance Framework ensuring oversight, compliance and monitoring.

• Advanced endpoint security and Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) measures.

• Email security controls to protect against phishing and targeted attacks.

• Continuous security monitoring and threat intelligence for proactive detection and mitigation.

• Enhanced monitoring for remote users to detect unauthorized access and data exfiltration.

• Strong access controls, including federated identity and network access management.

• A 24x7 SOC collaborating with regulatory bodies to strengthen cyber defence.

• Secure by design principles, such as DevSecOps and ISO-aligned security testing practices, are implemented.

• ZeroTrust-based secure remote access to support workforce flexibility and sustainability.

• On-premise infrastructure security tools enabling patch management and file integrity monitoring.

• Comprehensive network security controls including Web Application Firewalls (WAF) and DDoS protection.

• Cloud security measures, including encryption and compliance controls supporting the Banks cloud first strategy.

• Rigorous security and compliance assessment of SaaS and PaaS service providers.

The Bank has established a comprehensive Information & Cybersecurity resilient framework. Strategic oversight is provided by the Board, the Risk Management Committee and the Information Technology & Digital Strategy Committee. At the executive level, the Information System Security Committee oversees cybersecurity initiatives to ensure that controls remain commensurate with the risks and threats applicable to the Bank and its information assets.

Awards and Recognition

During Fiscal 2026, the Banks Information Security function received industry recognition for excellence in cyber defence and governance, including awards at the IBA (Indian Banks Association) CISO Summit & Citations 2025 for:

• Cybersecurity Incident Response Maturity

• Cybersecurity Compliance Champion

• Cybersecurity Metrics & Reporting Excellence

These recognitions underscore the Banks commitment to maintaining a secure, trusted, and compliant digital environment for all stakeholders.

Risk

The risk management objective of the Bank is to ensure that the Bank operates in a risk - sensitive manner within the parameters of the Board approved Risk Appetite Statement and the concerns of Risk Department, while balancing the tradeoff between risk and return. In order to achieve this objective, the Bank has ensured at the outset the following enablers

• Robust risk governance from the top

• An independent risk management function

• Board approved risk appetite

• Focus on risk culture

Risk Governance

The Board is the apex Governance body on all matters of risk management. The Board of Directors exercises its oversight over risk management both directly and through its Committees, namely the Risk Management Committee, the Audit Committee of the Board, the Special Committee on Monitoring Bank Frauds and the IT & Digital Strategy Committee. While the Board reviews risk management matters on a quarterly basis, including approval of risk policies, risk profile, stress testing, risk policies, key & emerging risks etc., the Risk Management Committee oversees these matters in greater detail and depth and approves the Risk Appetite Statement of the Bank.

Executive Risk committees are constituted to look at specific areas of risk and are mandated by the Risk Management Committee of the Bank. Till fiscal year 2026 these were: Credit Risk Management Committee (CRMC), Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO), Operational Risk Management Committee (ORMC), Information Systems Security Committee (ISSC), Central Outsourcing Committee (COC), BCP & Crisis Management Committee (BCPMC), Apex Committee, Subsidiary Governance Committee (SGC) and Enterprise & Group Risk Management Committee (EGRMC). The Risk Management Committee of the Bank exercises oversight on these committees through review of their minutes and a review of the risk profile reviewed in these committees.

Independent risk management function

An independent risk management function offers assurance to the Board that risks are being taken and managed in line with the overall risk appetite of the Bank and the risk management policies of the Bank approved by the Risk Management Committee and the Board.

In order to ensure independence, the following enablers are in place:

• Risk function is headed by a Chief Risk Officer who is appointed by the Board of Directors and reports to the Risk Management Committee with additional reporting to the MD & CEO of the Bank.

• The Chief Risk Officer does not have any business targets nor does this officer have any other role like operations, technology etc.

• The Chief Risk Officer has direct access to the Risk Management Committee of the Board and meets the committee one on one on a quarterly basis without any other officers of the Bank being present.

• The Risk function under the Chief Risk Officer is part of various decision-making bodies. For example, Risk function is a permanent invitee to all credit sanctioning committees in the wholesale banking space. Risk function convenes and conducts meetings of executive risk committees etc.

• The Risk function is well staffed in terms of people and has independent access to data needed to support its working.

The Risk Department, while discharging its role, first lays down risk policies which are then approved by the Board of Directors, and then monitors the risk profile of the Bank across various components of risk in line with these policies and also informs and escalates matters of concern to the appropriate levels of management.

Risk Appetite

The overall risk appetite and philosophy of the Bank is approved by the Risk Management Committee of the Bank. The Risk Appetite Statement and the framework thereof provides guidance to the management on the desired level of risk for various types of risks in the long-term and helps steer critical portfolio decisions. The Risk Appetite is set at the Bank level and is cascaded into the business units for driving decisions at an operational level. It is monitored by the Risk Department which reports on the adherence thereto to the senior management and also to the Risk Management Committee.

Risk Culture

A robust operational risk and compliance culture is the cornerstone for risk management in any institution. In the Bank, Risk Department along with Compliance Department has put in place an action plan to strengthen the risk and compliance culture. This includes various initiatives such as

• Training and awareness programs

• Strengthening staff accountability framework

• Clarity on roles and responsibilities of the front line staff

• Tone from the top through communication from the MD & CEO

Risk Architecture

The risk architecture is composed, for every type of risk, of elements of -

• Governance with executive risk committee oversight

• Risk policies to provide guidance

• Tools for measuring risk level

• Monitoring of risk profile

• Reporting for actioning

A summary of these facets of the key risks is provided here:

Risk Type	Definition	Approach to risk management
Credit Risk	Credit risk is the risk of financial loss if a customer, borrower, issuer of securities that the Bank holds, or any other counterparty fails to meet its contractual obligations. Credit risk arises from all transactions that give rise to actual, contingent, or potential claims against any counterparty, customer, borrower or obligor.	The goal of credit risk management is to maintain asset quality and concentrations at individual exposures as well as at the portfolio level. Internal rating forms the core of the risk management process for wholesale lending businesses with internal ratings determining the acceptability of risk, maximum exposure ceiling, sanctioning authority, pricing decisions and review frequency. For the retail portfolio including small businesses and small agriculture borrowers, the Bank uses different product-specific scorecards. Credit models used for risk estimation are assessed for their discriminatory power, calibration accuracy and stability, independently by a validation team. Both credit and market risk expertise are combined to manage risks arising out of traded credit products such as bonds and market related off-balance sheet transactions.
Market risk	Market risk is the risk of losses in on and off-balance sheet positions arising from the movements in market price as well as the volatilities of those changes, which may impact the Banks earnings and capital. The risk may pertain to interest rate related instruments (interest rate risk), equities (equity price risk) and foreign exchange rate risk (currency risk). Market risk for the Bank emanates from its trading and investment activities, which are undertaken both for the customers and on a proprietary basis.	The Bank adopts a comprehensive approach to market risk management for its banking book as well as its trading book for both its domestic and overseas operations. The market risk management framework of the Bank covers inputs regarding the extent of market risk exposures, the performance of portfolios vis-a-vis the market risk limits and comparable benchmarks which provide guidance to the business in optimizing the risk-adjusted rate of return of the Banks trading and investment portfolio. Market risk management is guided by clearly laid down policies, guidelines, processes and systems for the identification, measurement, monitoring and reporting of exposures against various risk limits set in accordance with the risk appetite of the Bank. Risk Department independently monitors the Banks investment and trading portfolio in terms of risk limits stipulated in the Market Risk Management Policy and board approved Market Risk Appetite and reports deviations, if any, to the appropriate authorities as laid down in the policy and in the Risk Appetite Statement. The Bank utilizes
		both statistical as well as non-statistical measures for the market risk management of its trading and investment portfolios. The statistical measures include Value at Risk (VaR), stress tests, back tests and scenario analysis while position limits, marked-to-market (MTM), stop-loss limits, trigger limits, gaps and sensitivities (duration, PVBP, option greeks) are used as non-statistical measures of market risk management. The Bank follows a historical simulation approach to calculate Value at Risk (VaR) with a 99% confidence level for a one-day holding period in a time horizon of 250 days. VaR models for different portfolios are back tested on an ongoing basis and the results are used to maintain and improve the efficacy of the model. VaR measurements are supplemented with a series of stress tests and sensitivity analyses as per a well laid out stress testing framework.
Liquidity risk	Liquidity is a banks capacity to fund increase in assets and meet both expected and unexpected cash and collateral obligations at a reasonable cost and without incurring unacceptable losses. Liquidity risk is the inability of a bank to meet such obligations as they become due, without adversely affecting the Banks financial condition.	The Asset Liability Management (ALM) Policy of the Bank stipulates a broad framework for liquidity risk management to ensure that the Bank is in a position to meet its liquidity obligations as well as to withstand a period of liquidity stress from bank-level factors, market-wide factors or a combination of both. The ALM policy captures the liquidity risk appetite of the Bank and related governance structures as defined in the Risk Appetite Statement. The ALM policy is supplemented by other liquidity policies relating to intraday liquidity, stress testing, contingency funding plan and liquidity policies for each of the overseas branches. The liquidity profile of the Bank is monitored for both domestic as well as overseas operations on a static as well as on a dynamic basis by using the gap analysis technique supplemented by monitoring of key liquidity ratios and conduct of liquidity stress tests periodically. Periodical liquidity positions and liquidity stress results are reviewed by the Banks ALCO and the Risk Management Committee of the Board. The Bank has integrated liquidity risk management guidelines issued by RBI pursuant to the Basel III framework on liquidity standards in its asset liability management framework. These include the intraday liquidity management and the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). The Bank maintains LCR/NSFR in accordance with the RBI guidelines and the defined risk appetite of the Bank.
Operational risk	Operational risks may emanate from inadequate and/or missing controls in internal processes, people and systems or from external events or a combination of all the four.	Core operational risk:
		The Bank has in place an Operational Risk Management (ORM) Policy to manage the operational risk in an effective, efficient and proactive manner. The policy aims at assessing and measuring the magnitude of risks, monitoring and mitigating them through a well-defined framework and governance structure. The Bank has set up a comprehensive Operational Risk Measurement System for documenting, assessing, and periodic monitoring of various risks and controls linked to various processes across all business lines.
	Operational risk manifests in the form of-
	• Core process risk
	• Change management risk	Change management risk:
	• Outsourcing risk	All new products and processes, as well as changes in existing products and processes are subjected to risk evaluation by the Operational Risk team. The overall responsibility of new products is vested with the Risk Department through the Banks Product Management Committee and Change Management Committee.
	• Continuity risk
	• Information & cyber security risk
		Outsourcing risk:
		Outsourcing arrangements are examined and approved by the Banks Outsourcing Committee after due recommendations from the Operational Risk team.
		Business continuity risk:
		The Business Continuity Planning Management Committee (BCPMC) exercises oversight on the implementation of the approved Business Continuity Plan (BCP) framework which has been put in place to ensure continuity of service to its large customer base. The effectiveness of the approved Business Continuity Plan (BCP) framework is tested for all identified critical internal activities to ensure readiness to meet various contingency scenarios. The learning from the BCP exercises are used as inputs to further refine the framework. With effective Business Continuity Plan in place, the Bank has effectively managed to run its operations by adapting to various continuity/mitigation plans.
		Information security risk:
		The Bank pursues a holistic Information and cyber security program with a comprehensive Information Security policy, Cyber Security policy and standards based on industry best practices with compliance to regulatory guidelines. These policies are aligned with the regulatory directives on Information and Cyber security and with global best practices like NIST, ISO27001:2013, PCI DSS etc. The governance framework is in place at executive level with Information System Security Committee constituting key business functions meeting at least once in a quarter to assess the threat landscape and validate the controls enforced in the Bank commensurate with the cyber risks. The Bank has invested in strong technical and administrative controls to proactively prevent, detect and contain and respond any suspicious activity. The Bank is compliant to ISO27001 standard and PCI DSS standard. The Bank conducts various assessments to identify and remediate risks before any application and/or IT infrastructure component is deployed. These assessments include Application security, vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, security architecture review data security assessment etc. The Bank also has adopted defense in depth methodology to protect its valuable assets from intrusion by malicious actors. The Bank has 24 x 7 Security Operation Center (SOC) to keep vigil on its digital assets and coordinates with RBI, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI) etc. for implementation of their recommendation to strengthen its defense against cyber-attacks. The Information System Security Committee of the Bank provides directions for mitigating operational risk in the information systems. Over the year, the Bank has focused on strengthening the operational and information security risk frameworks by implementing several initiatives.

Subsidiary Governance

As a financial conglomerate, the Bank has established a robust framework and governance processes for oversight of its subsidiaries, approved by the Board and the Risk Management Committee. The Subsidiary Governance Department (SGD) plays a central role in implementing this framework and ensuring consistent governance across the Group.

SGDs responsibilities include:

• Ensuring alignment of group-wide policies and best practices of the Bank with Subsidiary policies

• Facilitating regular engagement with subsidiaries and relevant internal stakeholders, including group assurance functions of the Bank for review of governance standards and compliance status of each of the subsidiaries

• Providing periodic updates to executive committees and Board sub-committees on governance matters of group entities of Bank:

Oversight and Governance Structure

Subsidiary governance is subject to oversight across executive and Board- sub committees as follows:

Executive committees:

• Subsidiary Governance Committee (SGC)

• Enterprise Risk Management Committee (EGRMC)

Board and its Sub-committees:

• Board of Directors

• Audit Committee of the Board (ACB)

• Risk Management Committee (RMC)

• Customer Service Committee of the Board (CSCB)

These forums review governance matters on a regular basis and receive updates from group assurance functions and SGD, on a periodic basis, ensuring continuous oversight and guidance where required.

Compliance

The Bank maintains a strong and independent Compliance Function, which plays a critical role in safeguarding its integrity and reputation by ensuring adherence to applicable laws, regulatory requirements, and internal policies. The Bank has established a comprehensive compliance framework designed to promote a culture of ethical conduct, transparency, and accountability across all business and operational units.

Compliance Framework and Independence

The Compliance Department operates independently and is responsible for identifying, assessing, monitoring, and mitigating compliance risks across the organisation. It works closely with business units to provide guidance on regulatory requirements and to ensure that products, processes, and services remain aligned with applicable regulatory frameworks.

The Bank follows a three lines-of-defence model, comprising:

• First line: Business units responsible for managing risks within their operations

• Second line: Risk and Compliance functions providing oversight and guidance

• Third line: Internal Audit providing independent assurance

This structure ensures integrated assurance and robust governance over compliance risks.

Strengthening Compliance Capabilities

During fiscal 2026, the Bank continued to enhance its compliance framework through:

• Strengthening regulatory monitoring mechanisms

• Enhancing policy governance and review processes

• Reinforcing compliance culture through leadership communication ("tone from the top")

• Conducting targeted training and awareness programs

The Compliance Function also ensured prompt and transparent communication with regulators, actively monitored regulatory developments, and implemented guidelines in a timely and comprehensive manner. Periodic compliance risk assessments were undertaken, with appropriate mitigation actions implemented.

Technology and Process Enhancements

The Bank undertook several initiatives to strengthen compliance monitoring and execution, including:

• Enhancing AML transaction monitoring and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) processes through analytics, automation, and AI-enabled workflows

• Strengthening compliance testing frameworks and expanding automation across processes

• Deploying workflow-based tracking mechanisms for improved monitoring and accountability

• Strengthening resource deployment through dedicated compliance officers for every business in the Bank Additional frameworks implemented include:

• Compliance Risk Assessment (CRA) framework

• Remedial Action Framework for establishing staff accountability for regulatory violations, if any

• CARO (Compliance and Risk Officers) model to enable self-identification and remediation by the first line of defence

These initiatives have enhanced control effectiveness, reduced operational errors, and strengthened accountability across the organisation.

Group-wide Compliance and Customer Protection

As part of enhanced group oversight, the Bank has established a robust Group Compliance structure to ensure consistent compliance standards across subsidiaries and business units.

The Bank remains committed to enterprise-wide compliance and risk management, with a continued focus on:

• Customer protection and fair practices

• Strengthening grievance redressal mechanisms

• Enhancing transparency and disclosures

• Responsible lending practices

• Strengthening digital payment security controls and data protection, including alignment with evolving data privacy regulations.

Internal Audit

The Internal Audit function of the Bank operates independently under the supervision of the Audit Committee of the Board, which reviews & evaluates the efficacy and performance of the internal audit function. The audit policy, strategy and plan for carrying out audits across functions of the Bank and the Axis Group are approved by the Audit Committee of the Board. Further, audit policy, strategy and plan are reviewed regularly to factor in inputs received from regulatory guidance, changes in regulations, business landscape & emerging areas of business and risks, learnings from various operational failures, risk incidents, frauds, etc., in a dynamic manner.

The Internal Audit function provides an independent assurance to the Board of Directors and Senior Management on the quality and efficacy of the internal controls, risk management systems, governance systems and processes in place on an on-going basis. This is provided to primarily ensure that business and non-business functions are following both internal and regulatory guidelines and processes.

In line with the RBIs guidelines on Risk Based Internal Audit (RBIA), the Bank has adopted a risk based internal audit policy. The Risk Based Internal Audit policy has been designed factoring regulatory guidelines and international best practices. The policy has a well-defined architecture for conducting Risk Based Internal Audit which articulates the audit strategy which focuses on both existing as well as emerging business risks. Inputs such as organization structure, business expansion including opening of new units, and new products and processes are key to identification of a comprehensive audit universe for the audit planning exercise. The audit frequencies are in congruence with the overall risk profile of each unit which is audited. Further, concurrent audits, off-site monitoring, sustenance audits and thematic & snap audits have been integrated into the internal audit process to make the function more robust. The Audit function highlights risks and recommended improvements in operational processes, design elements and policies.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are deployed to harness enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in performance of audits. Automated checks and tests have been developed across various audit functions including retail, wholesale, treasury and operations. Automated checks also help augment testing as part of thematic audits, information security audit, revenue audit and concurrent audit, offsite monitoring etc. to independently evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls on an ongoing basis and to proactively recommend enhancements to the process owners. The Internal Audit function has mix of resources with expertise in technology and functional skill for effectively conducting various types of audits. The Internal Audit function continuously strives to enhance its effectiveness & efficiency through internal reviews and external evaluations, and augmenting skill sets of the audit resources for making Internal Audit Function agile and responsive towards the emerging and strategic risks.

Internal Audit framework for subsidiaries has been further strengthened under the Group governance framework with audit policy, as applicable, and is supplemented by structured engagement, oversight on audit activities and monitoring of related KRIs.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Sustainability CSR

The Banks CSR agenda is rooted in a simple promise: when communities thrive, progress becomes lasting. In Fiscal 2026, the Bank stayed focused on those who need support the most-women, children, small farmers, youth, and vulnerable households-especially across Aspirational Districts, remote geographies, and the North-East. Oversight from the CSR Committee of the Board continued to guide our priorities and ensure full compliance with Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013. The Bank implemented projects directly, with trusted partners, and through Axis Bank Foundation (ABF), the Banks strategic CSR arm.

The Banks ‘OPEN philosophy continues to guide how we think, act, and serve-helping us build meaningful, long-term impact in the communities we work with

Sustainable Livelihoods — Building Resilience, One Household at a Time

Axis Bank Foundation advanced its longstanding livelihoods mission, partnering with grassroots organisations to strengthen incomes for rural households. The Bank worked alongside small and marginal farmers, womens self-help groups, landless workers, and young people stepping into first-generation enterprises. The focus was practical: better production practices, diversified income streams, stronger collective action, and market access that is fair and predictable.

As of 31 March 2026, ABFs sustainable livelihoods program had supported 2.76 million households across 32 states/UTs, including 7 lakh+ households reached this year. Behind each number is a steady journey-from basic training to confident entrepreneurship; from subsistence to surplus; from uncertainty to plans for the future.

Education — Opening Doors to Hope and Possibility

In Fiscal 2026, our education initiatives reached ~13.7 lakh students, ~2.3 lakh teachers and numerous school support systems across some of Indias most underserved and remote geographies. Through classroom level support, teacher capacity building, leadership development, residential coaching, and higher education scholarships, we worked to strengthen learning environments end to end-ensuring that children not only stay in school, but learn confidently, progress meaningfully, and unlock opportunities that shape brighter futures.

Axis DilSe?: Reaching the Last Mile

Axis DilSe? continued to bring the promise of quality learning to ~92,000 students in some of Indias most remote and challenging locations. The Bank strengthened learning environments with age-appropriate materials, libraries, digital access, and mentoring support for teachers-so that children not only return to school, but also stay, learn, and aspire. The program remained deeply engaged across parts of the NorthEast and eastern India, with a special focus on schools that have historically lacked resources.

Education Ecosystem Strengthening

Through collaborations with experienced education partners and government institutions, the Bank supported teacher capacity-building, remedial learning, competency-based instruction, and school leadership. In Fiscal 2026, 10,000+ government schools were supported and children benefited from structured interventions that improve foundational learning and grade level competencies.

The Bank supported the holistic development of ~250 children and young adults with disabilities and from marginalised backgrounds by strengthening personal and social capabilities through drama and creative arts in partnership with Create Foundation.

Centres of Excellence for Youth

In partnership with the Indian Army and NIEDO, fully residential Centres of Excellence continued to mentor talented youth from vulnerable backgrounds-especially across the NorthEast-towards national competitive examinations. During fiscal 2026, the Bank renewed support for existing centres and operationalized a new Centre of Excellence in Nagaland, enabling ~600 students to receive rigorous academic coaching, lifeskills training, and career guidance-turning potential into real opportunity.

Scholarships for Higher Education

The Bank continued its focus on access and equity through scholarships at leading universities, with a special emphasis on women in STEM and students from low-income families. In Fiscal 2026, ~3,500 scholars were supported-each a first- generation story of determination, talent, and a brighter horizon.

In parallel, the Bank strengthened the social development ecosystem by supporting higher education in developmental management. By enabling professionals and practitioners to build advanced capabilities in areas such as public systems, social sector leadership, and evidence based program management, this intervention contributes to stronger institutions, more effective service delivery, and longterm sectoral impact beyond individual programs.

Environment — Restoring Natural Systems, Strengthening Community Wellbeing

Tree Plantation & Urban Green Patches

The Bank continued its multi-year commitment to expand green cover by planting ~15 lakh saplings and restoring ~3000 hectares of land. Urban pockets received dense, community-managed green patches, while rural sites focused on species that aid soil health, water retention, and long-term survivability.

Habitat & Agroforestry Restoration

The interventions supported agroforestry, soil and water conservation, and biodiversity restoration-particularly in buffer zones of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. The aim was twofold: healthier ecosystems and safer livelihoods for families living near forests, including efforts to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

Climate Resilience & Rural infrastructure

The Bank continued collaborative work that strengthens local resilience in climate-vulnerable regions-such as solar-powered cold-chain units that reduce postharvest losses, and flood-resilience measures in riverine islands-so that communities can withstand climate shocks with dignity.

Humanitarian Response — Showing Up When it Matters Most

When disasters strike, the first needs are urgent: safety, food, water, and medical access. During fiscal 2026, the Bank supported relief operations across 3 states, working with on-ground partners to provide essential supplies, temporary shelter, and early rehabilitation. In total, ~6,000 individuals received timely support that bridged the gap between crisis and recovery.

The Bank supported the strengthening of childcare and protection systems by building institutional capacities and improving outcomes for ~500 children in institutional care in partnership with Catalysts for Social Action in Chhattisgarh. The initiative focuses on system level reforms, enabling safer transitions, long-term wellbeing, and sustainable impact for vulnerable children.

Financial Literacy & inclusion: Powering Households to Participate, Plan, and Prosper

Axis Bank advanced financial inclusion and financial literacy through pan India interventions spanning multiple states, directly reaching ~2.6 lakh individuals in fiscal 2026. The initiatives covered ~1.60 lakh women, and were delivered through ~2,200 structured financial literacy and awareness sessions, FI camps, and hands on digital training for SHGs. Together with facilitation of banking, insurance, and pension services, these efforts strengthened last mile access, promoted cashless adoption, and built sustained confidence in formal financial systems among underserved communities.

Sports - Turning Potential into Performance

Continuing its support to sports as a key thematic focus area, the Banks partnership with the Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games (FPSG) towards the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) program supported ~500 athletes and para-athletes across 10 Olympic and 8 Paralympic disciplines.

The Axis Bank Judo Development Program, implemented in partnership with the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), continued to provide foundational judo training to 560young judokas in Manipur, with a focus on nurturing grassroots talent in the discipline. In addition, the program supported 47 female judokas with world-class training at the world -class IIS campus in Vijayanagar, Karnataka, with a targeted objective of achieving podium finishes at the LA 2028 Olympic Games. These judokas were awarded full scholarships to study and train at the IIS campus.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank also partnered with the Lakshya Shooting Club (LSC) to establish the state-of-the-art ‘Axis Bank- Lakshya Shooting Club High Performance Centre (HPC) in Navi Mumbai. The Centre, dedicated exclusively to the shooting discipline, is designed to provide world-class infrastructure, comprehensive athlete development programs, and community engagement initiatives. It aims to nurture emerging shooters, groom Olympic-level elite athletes, and create an open and inclusive platform for scouting and developing future talent in the discipline.

Governance, Assurance & Learning

Strong governance remained the backbone of the Banks CSR. The CSR Committee set direction, while rigorous due diligence, monitoring, and outcome tracking ensured that each rupee served a clear purpose and every partnership stood up to scrutiny. The Bank continued to disclose details as per statutory requirements and to incorporate field learnings into program design-so the work remains relevant, transparent, and accountable.

The Road Ahead

The Banks CSR agenda in Fiscal 2026 continued to reflect a simple but powerful belief-that meaningful change occurs when we walk alongside communities and commit for the long term.

As we move forward, the Bank remains guided by purpose, empathy, and the conviction that every child, household, and community deserve the opportunity to thrive.

ESG

Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations form an integral part of the Banks long-term strategy and operational approach. The Bank continues to ensure that its strategic decision making and operational actions remain firmly aligned with its Purpose Statement - Banking that leads to a more inclusive and equitable economy, thriving community and a healthier planet.

The Bank had become the first Indian bank in fiscal 2022 to establish a standalone Board level ESG Committee, enabling the Bank to align its diverse priorities and activities under a unified and cohesive ESG agenda. Under the Committees guidance, the Bank took a series of ESG aligned commitments with implementation driven by the relevant verticals across the organization. These commitments are aligned with key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support Indias climate objectives under the Paris Agreement. Performance against these commitments is reviewed quarterly by the ESG Committee of the Board, and the targets are revised based on the progress achieved. During fiscal 2026, the ESG Committee of the Board met four times to review progress against these commitments, oversee related initiatives, and provide strategic direction on emerging ESG priorities. The Banks ESG aligned actions, performance highlights, and progress on commitments during fiscal 2026 are detailed in the Integrated Annual Report, which is prepared in accordance with the Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI )reporting frameworks.

Towards its commitment of achieving incremental wholesale lending of INR 60,000 crores in sectors with positive Environment and Social impact by 2030, as included in the Banks Sustainable Financing Framework, the Bank has achieved INR 61,348 crores of incremental lending as of 31 March 2026 thereby achieving its target. As against an internal commitment taken by the Bank to scale down its exposure to coal mining and trading, and thermal power sectors, the Banks exposure is well within the targeted cap as part of the glide path. The Banks total Wholesale lending portfolio in the ‘green sectors stood at INR 45,511 crores as of 31 March 2026.

The Bank has formed strategic partnerships with OEMs to support steady growth in EV penetration in line with its ESG goals. During fiscal 2026, the Bank has revised its EV lending targets - increasing the EV share in the two-wheeler loan portfolio from 6% to 8%, and in the four-wheeler passenger loan portfolio from 4% to 7% (Percentage EV share in rupee terms) by 2027. As of 31 March 2026, the Bank has achieved an incremental lending of 9.01% in Two-Wheeler electric vehicle and 7.2% in Four- Wheeler passenger segment electric vehicle. The Bank is also actively scaling its ESG aligned retail products including solar rooftop loans for SMEs and green home loans.

Under the ESG Committees oversight, the Bank has been actively working towards strengthening its climate risk management capabilities at the enterprise level. The Bank continues to embed ESG- and climate-related risks and opportunities into its annual Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP). The Bank has also significantly strengthened its ESG Policy for Lending that integrates environmental and social risk assessment into its credit appraisal for Wholesale Banking. The updated Policy now mandatorily requires scrutiny of proposals in sectors identified as hazardous, such as coal mining, thermal power and hazardous chemicals. Notably, key proposals discussed at the Boards Committee of Directors now include an assessment under the ESG Policy for Lending.

The Bank continues to implement an ESG Rating Model for select clients in the Wholesale Banking business vertical. The Model, developed in-house, includes more than 80 parameters across the three pillars of E, S and G and went live in March 2024 for select sectors. Notably, the Bank has also published its first ESG Risk dashboard, that has also been presented to the Boards Risk Management Committee. As part of the said dashboard, the Bank has also developed a hazard heat map for identified sectors, including its Retail Mortgages, Rural, and MSME lending verticals. Additionally, the dashboard also includes an assessment of the transition risk in sectors identified as having "high" transition risk, including iron and steel, cement, and fertilizers and agrochemicals. During fiscal 2026, the Banks Risk and Wholesale Underwriting verticals participated in a two- day Climate Risk training by Indian and international experts as part of a UK Government program.

The Bank continues its focus on Diversity, Equity, and I nclusion (DE&I). Towards its commitment to achieve 30% representation of women in its workforce by fiscal 2027, the Bank recorded a steady and intentional increase in hiring diversity during fiscal 2026, resulting in overall workforce diversity reaching 30.1%, with 37% of new hires being women. This disciplined and deliberate approach enabled the Bank to achieve the milestone a full year ahead of its stated, reflecting strong leadership ownership across business and support verticals.

Alongside hiring outcomes, the Bank continued to strengthen representation within teams. The focus on Women in Every Team translated into a steady improvement, with over 67% of teams now having women representation, reinforcing the belief that participation at the team level strengthens conversations, broadens perspectives, and improves everyday decision-making.

To support this shift, the Bank strengthened its inclusion architecture through Gateway to Inclusion, anchored in a renewed focus on a common language for DE&I. The updated framework emphasizes Everyday Inclusion—embedding inclusive behaviours into routine leadership interactions, team dynamics, and people processes, rather than positioning inclusion as a standalone initiative.

The Bank continued to strengthen womens participation in frontline and revenue generating roles through the Women in Sales employee resource group. This platform focuses on capability building, mentoring, and peer learning, enabling continuity and confidence across critical sales roles. Complementing this, the Bank adopted a skills first lens as a core organising principle; treating capability as the foundation for opportunity. This approach shaped efforts ranging from the creation of skill factories aligned to emerging roles, to enabling internal role movements and career transitions through platforms such as Thrive, supporting progression across functions and career stages within Axis.

The year was particularly significant for research and thought leadership, reinforcing the Banks role in shaping evidence based conversations on participation. The release of Pink Capital: The Spectrum of Queer Money marked an industry first; a qualitative study that examines how the queer community earns, spends and saves money. By positioning LGBTQIA+ individuals as active economic participants; workers, savers, entrepreneurs, investors, and borrowers; the report reframes inclusion as an issue of financial participation and system design. This was complemented by The Missing Half: Women and Indias Growth Challenge, which examines womens workforce participation as a structural and economic imperative, highlighting how job design, continuity, mobility, and progression influence outcomes. Together, these bodies of work reflect the Banks belief that participation improves when institutions design deliberately for it.

The Bank also continued to strengthen inclusion for employees and customers from the LGBTQIA+ community through the ComeAsYouAre Charter, which institutionalises progressive policies spanning inclusive benefits, equitable leave frameworks, and systems that respect self-affirmed gender identity. Pride365 continued to evolve as a platform for community building, allyship, and advocacy across diverse identities within the queer spectrum.

Recognising that inclusion is closely linked to wellbeing, the Bank strengthened its focus on mental wellness through peer led and accessible support mechanisms. Initiatives such as Wellness Sherpas, trained to act as emotional first aid providers, alongside regular monthly mental wellness discussions, helped reinforce psychological safety and wellbeing as foundational enablers of an inclusive workplace.

Beyond internal efforts, the Bank furthered its ecosystem impact. Axis Women in Motion continued its grassroots engagement across towns, hinterlands, and talukas, encouraging women to participate as independent economic entities. With a strong focus on the student ecosystem, the Axis DE&I Curriculum on Building and Leading Inclusive Organisations was delivered across 18 academic institutes during fiscal 2026. In total, 54 DE&I curriculum sessions have been delivered till date, equipping students with the perspectives required to shape inclusive workplaces early in their careers.

This fiscal year, Axis ViBE (Varsity of Inclusive Business Enterprises) continued to champion robust DE&I practices across the broader corporate ecosystem. Through Axis ViBE, the Bank engaged 157 corporates, fostering shared learning and reinforcing inclusion as a business imperative across organisations.

During fiscal 2026, the Bank significantly scaled up its participation in and contribution to thought leadership and advocacy around the topics of ESG, climate change, financial inclusion, diversity, and sustainable finance, among others. The Banks senior leaders are members of key committees on these topics at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Indian Banks Association (IBA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), among others, as well as at the market regulators including SEBI.

The Bank continues to deliver steady performance at key ESG assessment and recognition platforms. The Bank was on the FTSE4Good Index for the ninth consecutive year in 2025. The Bank maintains improved its MSCI ESG rating from ‘A to AA and is scored C in the CDP. The Bank has improved its S&P Global ESG score to 60 and has an improved ESG Risk Rating of 18.4 as of last full update - March 2026 by Sustainalytics. The Bank is among Top 10 constituents of S&P BSE CARBONEX Index, MSCI India ESG Leaders Index and the Nifty100 ESG Sector Leaders Index.

Human Resources

At Axis Bank, human capital is a core enabler of sustainable value creation, with our people bringing our purpose to life. The Bank remains committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and employee centric workplace that supports agility, career mobility, continuous learning, and holistic wellbeing across a multigenerational workforce.

Strengthening Organizational Capability

The Bank has built a robust learning ecosystem that enables employees to continuously upskill, adapt to evolving roles, and take ownership of their growth. In Fiscal 2026, the Bank delivered over 5 million learning hours to 100,000+ employees through 11+ capability factories offering deep, role specific training across critical and emerging domains via structured Beginner to Advanced pathways. The Bank further strengthened a pull based learning culture through initiatives such as Learning On Your Own (LOYO) and the Build Your Own Career (BYOC) framework, while Learning of the Day (LOTD) embedded bite sized, personalised learning directly into daily workflows-enabling consistent, habit based learning at scale.

The Banks talent strategy prioritises building leadership from within by leveraging strong internal talent pools. In Fiscal 2026, the Bank launched All Stars, an industry first talent identification program for frontline sales employees, selecting 500+ high potential employees for intensive bootcamps to prepare them for larger roles and complex portfolios. The Bank also inducted the third cohort of ASTROS, reinforcing our focus on leadership development across the Bank. Complementing this, our senior leadership mentoring program saw active participation from 304 mentees and 73 mentors during fiscal 2026.

Embedding Values to Drive Organisational Excellence

At Axis Bank, our five core values - ownership, teamwork, transparency, ethics, and customer centricity, anchor our culture and guide how the Bank serves customers and work as One Axis. These values underpin a high performance environment where behaviours are demonstrated with consistency and intent. In Fiscal 2026, the Bank sharpened leadership ownership of culture through the introduction of 54 Department led Culture Councils, supported by a strong network of over 2,600 Axis Value Realisers who champion our values across the organisation. Reflecting the strength and maturity of our people practices, the Bank was certified as a Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute in Fiscal 2026 - the only Indian private sector bank to receive this recognition.

Internal Talent - A Growth Engine

Our internal talent mobility program, thrive, continues to enable structured career growth by opening up meaningful progression opportunities for employees. In Fiscal 2026, more than 7,300 employees progressed to new roles within Axis Bank. Additionally, by linking internal movements to promotion pathways, the Bank accelerated career advancement, enabling fast track promotions of up to one year ahead of standard tenure eligibility.

Expanding Campus Hiring & Early Career Programs

The Bank continues to invest in and scale its capabilities to meet its key skill and talent needs through structured campus programs and partnerships to attract top talent. Our flagship campus hiring initiatives include AHEAD, which recruits from Tier 1 B-schools like IIMs; Aspire, which targets talent from new IIMs and IITs; ABLe, which engages postgraduates from Tier 2 B-schools; The Bank leads, a specialized diversity hiring program for women leaders from premier institutes; ASA (Axis Sales Academy), a hire-train-deploy model for freshers to get a headstart into banking sales; ARISE, an open program to hire young talent from diverse disciplines, enhancing skills diversity and ABYB, a flagship program for training and on-boarding young bankers. In Fiscal 2026, the Bank also launched Axis Moves, the largest corporate competition in the banks history, with over 21,000+ students participating from top MBA and engineering institutions in the country that drove a marked increase in campus brand visibility and preference.

Rewarding Excellence, Driving impact

Our meritocracy-driven culture was further strengthened in Fiscal 2026 through focus on quality of feedback at mid-year and introduction of RetrACE - our employee grievance platform at the mid-year check-in as well.

Through our recognition programs, the Bank celebrated excellence across the Bank. Our flagship Champions Awards honoured 117 employees, while the quarterly Anchors initiative recognised everyday excellence among 3,183 employees. We also marked longservice milestones for over 7,000 employees through the OGs program, including 105 employees completing 25, 30, and 35 years of service, and honoured 20 retirees through Retiring with Pride for their lasting contributions.

Championing a Diverse, inclusive and Equitable Workplace

The Bank achieved its 30% women representation milestone by Fiscal 2026, a year ahead of plan. Its approach to people practices extends beyond the organisation; shaping leadership capability, influencing participation, and informing decision- making across institutions and society at large. This is supported by the publication of research grounded in both evidence and lived experiences, including studies on womens workforce participation and on how LGBTQIA+ people earn, spend and save, enabling more informed and durable outcomes.

Prioritising Employee Well being

At Axis Bank, caring for our people is a fundamental responsibility. The Bank continues to design a balanced, supportive, and sustainable work environment, recognising that access to health and wellbeing is a critical enabler of long-term performance. During fiscal 2026, The Bank strengthened its employee wellbeing framework through a combination of preventive healthcare, enhanced medical coverage, and everyday wellness initiatives ranging from ergonomics and physical movement to nutrition - integrating wellbeing seamlessly into the flow of work. Further, our mental wellness framework provided accessible, confidential, and inclusive support through professional counselling over 2,500 hours, diverse therapeutic approaches, and shared learning initiatives. Support was extended beyond employees to families, while peer-led interventions such as the Wellness Sherpa program strengthened everyday emotional support. Together, these efforts reinforced a holistic approach to wellbeing, recognising its critical role in employee resilience, engagement, and sustained performance.

Embracing the Future of Work

Through GIGA, the Bank is redefining workforce flexibility, with more than 2,500 employees operating in remote roles. The expanded GIGA Freelancer program engaged 70+ specialists for niche projects, achieving a balanced gender representation. Our Hybrid Work Model is firmly embedded, with non-branch employees attending office twice weekly.

Conclusion

The Bank continues to build an inclusive, high-performance workplace that places people at the centre while strengthening leadership depth and organisational capability. During fiscal 2026, the Bank advanced our people strategy by attracting diverse talent, building future ready skills, and reinforcing values and ownership mantras, supported by technology enabled listening, learning, and HR platforms that enhance employee experience. Together, these efforts underscore our belief that sustainable performance is driven by empowered people and a strong culture of accountability. Looking ahead, the Bank remains focused on nurturing a resilient, purpose driven workforce that enables ethical banking, creates shared value, and supports the Banks continued transformation.

Subsidiary Performance

The Banks subsidiaries are integral to the "One Axis" strategy and play a pivotal role in advancing the Banks objectives across the three strategic vectors of Growth, Profitability and Sustainability. Over a relatively short period, the Bank has built a comprehensive subsidiaries platform spanning a wide range of financial services, with several entities having established leadership positions in their respective segments. Axis Capital continues to maintain its leadership position in the ECM segment. Axis Mutual Fund maintained its position as the AMC amongst the Top 10 players and is now the eighth largest player with ~4.4% share in the industry AUM, Axis Finance has grown its AUM at a 35% CAGR in last 5 years while delivering healthy returns.

The Bank continues to focus on further scaling up the subsidiaries so that they attain meaningful size and market share in their respective businesses. During fiscal 2026, the Banks subsidiaries delivered strong performance with reported total income of Rs. 9,606 crores and earnings of Rs. 2,051 crores up 16% Y-o-Y.

Axis Capital Limited

Axis Capital, the Banks full service investment banking and institutional equities franchise, is a leader in the equity and equity linked transactions over the past decade. The firm delivered another strong year, recording the highest number of transactions with 61 deals executed across Equity Capital Markets (ECM) and Advisory (non ECM) businesses. This included 44 ECM transactions (IPOs, QIPs, InvITs, REITs, OFS and Rights Issues) and 17 Advisory transactions (M&A, Private Equity and Pre IPO). Axis Capitals earnings increased by 61% and contributed 13% to the total earnings of the subsidiaries.

Axis Asset Management Limited

Axis AMC, that had ~13.9 million client folios as at end of 31 March, 2026 and contributed 29% to the total earnings of the subsidiaries. The Company manages 89 mutual fund schemes with a closing AUM of Rs. 321,335 crores as compared to closing AUM of Rs. 305,717 crores as on March 31, 2025 and was ranked 8th amongst the mutual fund Industry in India. The AUM under Axis pension fund management stood at Rs. 16,118 crores as on 31 March, 2026.

Axis Securities Limited

The retail brokerage firm reported 11% growth in cumulative client base to 7.09 million. Axis Securities earnings de-grew 13% as compared to previous period, and contributed 18% to total subsidiaries earnings. The subsidiary achieved a trading volume of Rs. 24,909,624 crores thereby registering a growth of 21% in fiscal 2026.

Axis Finance Limited

Axis Finance Limited, the Banks NBFC has been diversifying its loan book mix and has made significant investments to grow its Retail and MSME team with the objective of becoming an enterprise focused lending company. During fiscal 2026, Axis Finance introduced two new businesses, Disha Home Loans and the MSME Retail Banking Group, as part of its strategy to further diversify the portfolio. Within the very first year of launch, Disha Home Loans crossed a loan book milestone of Rs. 1,000 crore, underscoring the franchises strong execution capabilities. Axis Finances earnings increased by 19% Y-o-Y and contributed 39% to total subsidiaries earnings. Axis Finance remains well capitalized with Capital Adequacy Ratio of 19.65%. Its asset quality metrics remain stable with net NPA at 0.36% as of 31 March 2026.

Freecharge Payments Technologies Private Limited

Freecharge Payment Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (FCPTL) continues to strengthen its position as a trusted digital payments partner by delivering secure, scalable, and future-ready Payment infrastructure across UPI, cards, net banking, and BBPS. Serving banks, NBFCs, enterprises, government entities, and digital businesses, the platform emphasizes high standards of security, compliance (including PCI-DSS and ISO), and reliability.

A key milestone during fiscal 2026 was the successful demerger effective 1 January 2026, resulting in two focused entities: FCPTL, dedicated to payment solutions, and Freecharge Business & Technology Services Ltd. (FBTSL), operating as a Business Correspondent and technology services provider to Axis Bank. This restructuring enhances regulatory alignment with the Payment Aggregator framework, and enables sharper operational focus for Freecharge businesses.

During fiscal 2026, Freecharge introduced several product and technology enhancements, including a next-generation enterprise merchant app, expanded settlement options, and strengthened fraud prevention through its in-house TRIMS platform. Freecharge continued investments in platform scalability, performance, and UPI innovations such as success rate optimization and CBDC acceptance, supported strong business momentum and improved merchant experience. The overall GMV rose to Rs. 42,828 crores, 20.8% Growth YoY and achieved a net revenue of ~Rs. 51.50 crores. Moving ahead, Freecharge will focus on regulatory readiness, especially for the Payment Aggregator license, while expanding across key sectors like BFSI, government, utilities, and digital commerce. The company also aims to enhance success rates, deepen risk and reconciliation capabilities, and leverage next-generation technologies, including GenAI, to drive innovation across customer support, product development, and merchant integrations.

Freecharge Business & Technology Services Ltd.

Freecharge Business & Technology Services Ltd ("FreechargeBiz") operates as a dual-engine platform, driving financial inclusion and digital enablement across Bharat through its two core pillars — Business Correspondent ("BC") activities and a Technology Service Provider ("TSP") for Axis Bank. Through its BC model, the business enables last-mile access to credit and banking services for merchants and underserved segments, while its technology capabilities power scalable, efficient, and compliant digital journeys for the Bank.

In Fiscal 2026, post demerger of BC and TSP activities from Freecharge Payment Technologies Pvt. Ltd, FreechargeBiz now operates with a sharper focus on Business Correspondent-led distribution for micro and small businesses and technology services for the Axis Bank. This realignment has strengthened operational clarity, enhanced regulatory alignment, and enabled more focused execution across both pillars.

Under its BC activities, FreechargeBiz has built a strong merchant-led distribution network across Tier 2, Tier 3, and rural markets, expanding access to unsecured business loans, micro business loans, and MFI products tailored to underserved customers and a robust consumer APP providing UPI solution to consumers

As a TSP, FreechargeBiz plays a critical role in enabling digital infrastructure for the Bank, supporting scalable lending and servicing journeys. With AI-led interventions, modernised systems, and reduced backend dependencies, the platform has driven faster processing cycles, improved operational efficiency, and strengthened compliance across workflows.

Performance during the year remained strong, with the business expanding to 220 branches in fiscal 2026 from 100 in fiscal 2025, while disbursements exceeded Rs. 600 crores with a closing AUM of Rs. 610 crores. Customer satisfaction in assisted channels remained above 90%, supported by AI-led service interventions, alongside significant improvements in turnaround times and collection efficiency driven by technology and process enhancements.

A.TReDs Limited

A.TReDs Limited, the Banks subsidiary that was set up in partnership with M-Junction, was one of the three entities initially allowed by RBI to set up the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS), an electronic platform for facilitating cash flows for MSMEs. The Banks digital invoice discounting platform ‘Invoicemart has set a new benchmark by facilitating financing of MSME invoices of more than Rs. 2,78,000 crores . It currently has over 66,660 + participants on the platform and has e-discounted more than 56 lakh invoices since start of its operation from July 2017.

SAFE HARBOR

Except for the historical information contained herein, statements in this Annual Report which contain words or phrases such as "will", "aim", "will likely result", "would", "believe", "may", "expect", "will continue", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "contemplate", "seek to", "future", "objective", "goal", "strategy", "philosophy", "project", "should", "will pursue" and similar expressions or variations of such expressions may constitute "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to our ability to successfully implement our strategy, future levels of non-performing loans, our growth and expansion, the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses, our provisioning policies, technological changes, investment income, cash flow projections, our exposure to market risks as well as other risks. Axis Bank Limited undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date thereof.