IBPS PO Prelims Full Mock Test 05

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given after it. For most of the last decade, the story of Indian finance was a story of reach. Accounts were opened in their hundreds of millions, payments moved to the phone, and a street vendor with a printed QR code became the unlikely symbol of a digital economy. The next chapter, however, is less about reach and more about depth. Having a bank account is not the same as having access to credit, and the gap between the two is where most small businesses still struggle. The difficulty is an old one. A lender wants to know whether a borrower will repay, and for decades the only reliable evidence was collateral or a long, formal credit history. A tailor in Bhilwara or a kirana owner in Guntur rarely has either. What such borrowers do have, increasingly, is a trail of digital transactions: receipts through UPI, invoices on GST portals, utility bills paid on time. Account aggregators, which let a customer share this data with a lender with explicit consent, were designed to turn that trail into a kind of borrowed reputation. Early results are encouraging but uneven. Lenders that use cash-flow data report faster decisions and, in several cases, lower defaults on small loans than on loans approved by traditional scoring alone. Yet the benefits are concentrated among borrowers who are already partly formal. Those whose income arrives in cash, or who share a single phone with the rest of the family, leave thin trails that algorithms read as risk. There is a danger, therefore, that a tool built to widen access ends up rewarding those who were closest to the door to begin with. Consent is the other weak joint. A farmer asked to tap 'Allow' on a screen in a language he reads with difficulty has technically agreed, but it would be generous to call that an informed choice. Regulators have rightly insisted that data be shared only for a stated purpose and a limited period, but rules written in Mumbai mean little if the person at the counter does not explain them. None of this is an argument for slowing down. It is an argument for measuring the right things. The success of digital lending should be judged not by the number of loans disbursed in a quarter but by whether first-time borrowers are still solvent, and still borrowing, three years later.

   Q1.According to the passage, what is the main difference between the last decade of Indian finance and its next chapter?

   • A.The last decade was led by private banks; the next will be led by public sector banks
   • B.The last decade expanded rural credit; the next will expand urban credit
   • C.The last decade focused on opening accounts and digital payments; the next must focus on deeper access such as credit
   • D.The last decade relied on collateral; the next will ban collateral altogether
   • E.The last decade was about lowering interest rates; the next is about raising them

2. Q2.Why do borrowers such as a tailor in Bhilwara find it hard to get loans, as per the passage?

   • A.They earn too much to qualify for small loans
   • B.Lenders in small towns are not permitted to give loans
   • C.They refuse to use UPI for business payments
   • D.They usually lack collateral and a formal credit history
   • E.Their GST registration has been cancelled

3. Q3.What role does the passage assign to account aggregators?

   • A.They lend money directly to small businesses without any checks
   • B.They print QR codes for street vendors
   • C.They collect GST on behalf of the government
   • D.They replace banks as the main source of deposits
   • E.They let a customer share digital transaction data with a lender, with consent, so it can serve as evidence of creditworthiness

Start the test to answer these. Correct answers and explanations are shown after you submit.