Executive Summary
A recent report by Careernet reveals that investment banking global capability centres (GCCs) in India offer the highest compensation across the BFSI sector in FY 2025-26, leading all other segments including retail & commercial banking, financial services, and insurance. Key roles such as data scientists and full-stack developers in investment banking GCCs command salary ranges of Rs 22.1-46.9 lakh and Rs 20.7-47.5 lakh respectively. While non-investment banking sectors show steadier growth and lower entry salaries, they are showing sharp increases at senior levels, especially in insurance and cybersecurity. Employers are placing growing premium on digital maturity, deep tech, and regulatory resilience. Strategic implications include intensifying competition for tech talent, widening pay disparities over time, and pressure on Firms in lagging sectors to adapt or risk talent leakage.
Analysis
Indian BFSI global capability centres are undergoing a compensation shift, with investment banking GCCs pulling ahead across most roles and experience levels in FY 2025-26. Based on a dataset of ~50,000 professionals, investment banking dominates both entry and senior salary benchmarks for tech and data roles, outpacing retail/commercial banking, insurance, and financial services GCCs [1][4].
The report outlines that for data scientists in investment banking GCCs the salary range is Rs 22.1-46.9 lakh annually, whereas retail banking offers Rs 19.9-44.5 lakh and insurance Rs 18.4-44.3 lakh—differences that are noticeable at both lower and upper tiers of experience [2][4]. Meanwhile, full-stack developers in investment banking start at Rs 20.7 lakh and climb to Rs 47.5 lakh for senior roles—a premium over comparable roles in other sectors [2][4].
Entry roles such as scrum master and cybersecurity specialist begin at more modest levels but exhibit steeper trajectory as experience grows; cybersecurity in investment banking shows particularly sharp pay rises at senior levels [2][4]. Non-investment banking sectors are not static—they show sustained growth, especially where digital transformation, automation, fraud analytics, and AI are accelerating [3][4]. Insurance GCCs, though trailing at the entry level, are rapidly increasing pay bands especially for senior roles tied to risk and technology [2][5].
From a strategic standpoint, companies in retail banking, financial services, and insurance face competitive pressure to retain tech/data talent by boosting compensation, or else risk losing them to investment banking GCCs. Also, investment banking GCCs will continue to drive innovation investments, seeking expertise in AI, cloud, cybersecurity and digital architecture. There is potential for widening income inequality among sectors unless compensation structures become more responsive to tech-driven value creation across BFSI. Open questions remain around sustainability of these compensation levels, impact of macroeconomic factors (e.g. inflation, interest rates), and whether the talent supply pipeline—especially in non-core tech fields—can keep pace.
Supporting Evidence
• The Careernet report draws on compensation data for ~50,000 BFSI GCC professionals in India across investment banking, retail & commercial banking, financial services, and insurance sectors in FY 2025-26 [1][4].
• Data scientists in investment banking GCCs earn between Rs 22.1 lakh and Rs 46.9 lakh annually; in retail banking the range is Rs 19.9-44.5 lakh; in insurance Rs 18.4-44.3 lakh [2][4].
• Full-stack developers in investment banking GCCs see salaries from Rs 20.7 lakh (junior) to Rs 47.5 lakh (senior) [2][4].
• Roles like scrum master and cybersecurity specialist start with lower pay, but cybersecurity roles see steep increases at senior levels in investment banking GCCs [2][4].
• Retail & commercial banking, and financial services show more balanced compensation growth—less volatility, narrower gaps, and more structured pay bands compared to investment banking [2][4].
• Insurance sector, though lower at junior levels, has sharp compensation progression at senior levels, driven by adoption of automation, analytics, fraud detection, etc. [2][5].
• Key compensation drivers include digital maturity, strategic tech/data functions, scarcity of niche technical skills, and increasing regulatory/operational resilience demands [2][5].
Sources
- [1] hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com (Economic Times HR) — Dec 8, 2025
- [2] www.businesstoday.in (BusinessToday) — Dec 8, 2025
- [3] www.ndtvprofit.com (NDTV Profit) — Dec 8, 2025
- [4] gcc.economictimes.indiatimes.com (Economic Times GCC) — Dec 7, 2025
- [5] www.freepressjournal.in (Free Press Journal) — Dec 5, 2025