If you bank with one or two banks, corporate internet banking (CIB) is enough. If you hold accounts at three or more banks, or across several entities, connected banking will save your team hours every week. Say logging in, exporting a statement, and updating the cash sheet takes 15 minutes per bank each day. With four banks, that\u2019s an hour per day, or about five hours a week, before anyone has made a single payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few Indian businesses bank with just one bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A mid-sized company might collect customer payments into an HDFC Bank account, draw on an overdraft at SBI, and keep an escrow account at Axis Bank because a lender asked for one. Add an ICICI Bank account opened for a past project, and the finance team is working across four banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each account comes with its own portal, its own login, and its own OTP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the question finance teams ask has changed. It used to be “Which bank portal is best?” Now it’s “Why are we logging in to so many?”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If your team still keeps that morning spreadsheet, you’re in Phase 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Corporate internet banking is the online portal a bank gives its business customers. ICICI Bank calls its version CIB. HDFC Bank calls it ENet. State Bank of India calls it Corporate Internet Banking (CINB).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside the portal, your team can usually:<\/p>\n\n\n\n ICICI Bank’s CIB, for example, offers real-time balance information and statement downloads in six formats (ICICI Bank<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The limit is simple: CIB only sees accounts at that one bank.<\/strong> Three banks means three portals, three sets of logins, and three statement formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connected banking links your current accounts across banks to one platform, through each bank’s API (application programming interface: a secure channel banks use to share data and accept instructions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your accounts stay with your banks. The platform sits on top. It pulls balances and statements into one view and lets you pay from any linked account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think of it as one front door to every bank you use.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With it, your team can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the full explainer, read what connected banking is and how it works<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The short answer: scope. CIB works for one bank. Connected banking works across all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connected banking doesn’t replace your bank. Money stays in your accounts. Payments still move on NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What changes is where your team does the work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Take a manufacturer with current accounts at SBI, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank, plus an overdraft at ICICI Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without connected banking,<\/strong> the accounts manager starts each morning by logging in to four portals. She exports four statements, pastes the balances into a spreadsheet, and emails the CFO a cash position. A vendor payment due that day goes out from HDFC because that’s the portal already open, while idle cash sits at SBI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With connected banking,<\/strong> she opens one dashboard. All four balances are already there. She sees SBI has the surplus, pays the vendor from it, and the CFO approves on the same screen. The statement lines flow into Tally without a download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CIB does the job when nearly all your money sits with one bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stick with CIB alone if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The tipping point comes when the number of portals starts slowing decisions down. Five signs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try OPEN: every bank balance on one screen<\/p>\n\n\n OPEN connects current accounts at 40+ Indian banks through each bank’s own API. No screen-scraping, no shared passwords. Balances refresh in 12 seconds (median), and one click refreshes every account. Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, and IDFC FIRST Bank link digitally in a few minutes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHow Did Business Banking Get Here?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Is Corporate Internet Banking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Is Connected Banking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How Is Connected Banking Different From Corporate Internet Banking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/th> Corporate Internet Banking<\/strong><\/th> Connected Banking<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Banks covered<\/td> One bank per portal<\/td> Many banks on one platform<\/td><\/tr> Logins<\/td> One per bank, often per user<\/td> One login for every linked account<\/td><\/tr> Balance view<\/td> Accounts at that bank only<\/td> Every bank and entity together<\/td><\/tr> Payments<\/td> From that bank\u2019s accounts<\/td> From any linked account<\/td><\/tr> Statements<\/td> Each bank\u2019s own format<\/td> One consistent format<\/td><\/tr> Approvals<\/td> Set up separately in each portal<\/td> One approval policy across banks<\/td><\/tr> Accounting Sync<\/td> Manual download and upload<\/td> Syncs with your accounting software<\/td><\/tr> Who provides it<\/td> Your bank<\/td> A platform built on bank APIs<\/td><\/tr> Best for<\/td> One or two banking relationships<\/td> Three or more banks, or several entities<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n What Does This Look Like in Practice?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When Is Corporate Internet Banking Enough?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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When Do You Need Connected Banking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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