Axis Bank MOVES 2026 · 2nd Edition · Open to 1st & 2nd Year
A guaranteed PPO. ₹5 lakh in cash. And a Grand Finale in Mumbai. This one is a very high ROI play.
MOVES 2026 is the second edition of Axis Bank's flagship national case competition. The first edition in 2025 pulled in over 21,000 students from 50 of India's best institutes. This year it is bigger, the eligible campus list is up to 140 plus, and the rounds have been redesigned. If you are a 1st or 2nd year MBA at a Top 50 B-school in India, this is one of the easier high-prize wins of the season. Read this guide before you register.
Register first, then read the guide
Registration is open now
Registrations are live on InsideKampus, the InsideIIM hiring platform that hosts the competition. The deadline is 10th July 2026, 11:59 PM. Teams are of 2 students, must be from the same campus, and can mix 1st and 2nd year students as long as they are in the same programme. Register with your campus email ID, or use your personal email and update the campus one later from your profile.
🏦 Axis Bank MOVES 2026 · Team of 2
Register on InsideKampus
Closes 10th July 2026, 11:59 PM. There is no cap on how many teams can register from a single campus, so do not wait for someone else to start a team.
₹5,00,000 + Guaranteed PPO for the National Champions, ₹3,00,000 and ₹2,00,000 + Guaranteed PPIs for the runners-up, and 1:1 mentorship with Axis Bank leaders for the Top 10 finalists. Select finalists may also get PPIs based on jury recommendation.
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Who can apply
Full-time 2-year MBA / PGDM students, both 1st and 2nd year, across 140+ eligible institutes including all IIMs, XLRI, FMS, SPJIMR, MDI, JBIMS, NMIMS, IIFT, ISB PGP YL and more. Engineering UGs are also eligible, but this guide is written for MBAs.
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Team size and rules
2 students per team, same campus, can be from different academic years if same specialisation or programme. Team composition is locked after the registration deadline.
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Grand Finale
The finale is in Mumbai, with the live pitch to Axis Bank leadership and the jury. Travel and stay are typically taken care of for shortlisted teams, your placement committee will share the specifics.
Some context, why MOVES matters
2025 was the first edition. 2026 is the one to win.
Axis Bank ran MOVES for the first time in 2025. As the third-largest private sector bank in India running its first national campus competition, it pulled in 21,000+ students from IIMs, IITs, ISB, XLRI, FMS and other top institutes inside a single month. Most first-time competitions struggle to get noticed. MOVES did not, the brand alone got it the eyeballs.
The 2025 edition was themed around finding the "next big strategic bet for Axis Bank", with student ideas spanning technology, AI, sustainability, rural banking and marketing. The 2026 edition keeps the same DNA, broad strategic problems on the future of banking, but tightens the funnel. New rounds, a Simulation Assessment in place of the earlier Quiz, two PPT rounds before the finale, and a finale in Mumbai.
The most important point for 1st years reading this. MOVES is open to both 1st and 2nd year MBAs. Very few flagship competitions with a guaranteed PPO on the table let 1st years compete at all. Treat this as a rare and clean shot.
This is not a finance case competition
Strategy and digital transformation, not balance sheets
The single most common reason strong students skip MOVES is the assumption that a bank competition needs a finance background. That is wrong. The 2025 problem statements were structured around the future of banking, AI adoption, customer experience, sustainability, rural distribution and marketing. None of them required a CFA or a Finance major.
This is a strategy and digital transformation competition that happens to be hosted by a bank. If you are interested in Consulting, Product, Strategy, Marketing, Analytics or General Management, the brief will fit you. The finalists in 2025 came from a mix of backgrounds, the winners were not finance specialists, they were sharp generalists with a strong recommendation.
A useful reframe
Think of MOVES as a McKinsey-style strategy case, with Axis Bank as the client
If you can solve a market entry, growth, customer experience or AI adoption case for a bank, you can solve a MOVES brief. The bar is structured thinking, a sharp recommendation and a clean deck, not banking domain expertise.
The rounds, what to expect
Five rounds, from registration to the Mumbai finale
The 2026 edition has a tighter, longer funnel than 2025. Here is the official structure straight from the InsideKampus page, with what each round actually means and how to prepare for it.
1
Round 1 · 25 Jun to 10 Jul
Team Registration and Team Details
Run in parallel with registrations. Register your team of 2 on InsideKampus, complete the team profile with your details, programme, year and specialisation. This is not an evaluated round, but a clean, complete profile signals seriousness and is the first thing the platform uses to sort entries.
Use your campus email if you have it. If not, register on your personal email and add the campus email later. Do not leave the team profile half-filled, complete all fields the same day you register.
2
Round 2 · 12 Jul to 16 Jul
Simulation Assessment
This is the new format for 2026. Last year, the equivalent round was a 40-question MCQ Quiz Assessment that ran into significant technical issues, the quiz had to be rerun multiple times for many candidates, and a lot of teams lost time chasing support. This year Axis Bank has rebranded it as a Simulation Assessment. It may turn out to be a genuine business simulation, or it may end up being the same MCQ quiz with a new name. We will know only on 12th July.
Plan for both. Brush up on basic banking, BFSI digital trends, AI in banking, Axis Bank's stated priorities, and quantitative aptitude. If it is a simulation, treat it like a mini-business decision game, read every screen carefully, do not rush the first move, and watch how decisions impact the dashboard before committing.
3
Round 3 · 18 Jul to 26 Jul
Short PPT Team Submission
Top performers from Round 2 advance to the first PPT round. This is a short submission, typically 4 to 6 slides, designed to test whether your team can frame a problem, structure a recommendation and present it cleanly under tight space constraints. The 2025 themes spanned technology, AI, sustainability, rural banking and marketing, expect 2026 to stay in this strategic territory.
A short deck is harder than a long one. Write the one-line recommendation first, then build only the slides that defend it. Skip the company overview slide, the evaluators know Axis Bank better than you do. Lead with insight.
4
Round 4 · 01 Aug to 16 Aug
Detailed PPT Team Submission
The shortlisted teams go deep. This is the full submission with the analysis, the recommendation, the financials or business impact, the implementation roadmap and the risks. Roughly 12 to 18 slides. This is the round that decides who flies to Mumbai for the finale.
Tie every slide back to one measurable outcome for Axis Bank, customer acquisition, retention, cost saved, new revenue stream, or NIM impact. Use real Axis Bank numbers from the latest investor presentation. Generic banking ideas without an Axis-specific angle do not advance.
5
Round 5 · TBA
Grand Finale, live in Mumbai
The top teams present live to Axis Bank leadership and the jury. The PPO, the cash prizes and the PPIs are decided here. Expect a live pitch with strict timing, a tough Q&A and back-to-back team presentations. Logistics are usually communicated through your placement committee.
Rehearse the Q&A more than the slides. Have one teammate role-play a skeptical Axis Bank MD and stress-test every claim. Senior leaders rarely sit through every slide, they jump to the recommendation and pressure-test it. You win the finale in the answers, not in the script.
A practical heads up on the platform
InsideIIM and Unstop platforms are known to glitch, especially under load
Last year's Round 2 quiz had to be rerun for many candidates because of technical issues. Take screenshots of every screen, every error, and your final submission confirmation. If anything breaks, write to InsideKampus support immediately with the screenshots, the support teams are responsive and will reschedule or extend, but only if you have evidence and you act fast. Do not wait till the next day to flag a glitch.
What is on the table
The prize stack, and why the PPO is the real headline
🥇 National Champions
₹5,00,000 + Guaranteed PPO
Cash prize plus a guaranteed Pre-Placement Offer with Axis Bank. The PPO is the real headline, this is one of the very few competitions that hands a PPO at the end.
🥈 1st Runners-Up
₹3,00,000 + Guaranteed PPI
Cash prize and a guaranteed Pre-Placement Interview with Axis Bank for both team members.
🥉 2nd Runners-Up
₹2,00,000 + Guaranteed PPI
Cash prize and a guaranteed Pre-Placement Interview with Axis Bank.
🌟 Top 10 Finalists
1:1 Mentorship + Select PPIs
One-on-one mentorship from Axis Bank leaders. Select high performers may also receive PPI opportunities based on jury recommendations.
Last year's case, what it actually looked like
The 2025 brief, and what winning teams did
The 2025 edition was themed around "the next big strategic bet for Axis Bank". Teams were asked to identify a future-ready, high-impact direction the bank should commit to, and to back it with a business case. The accepted themes spanned five buckets, technology, artificial intelligence, sustainability, rural banking and marketing. Teams could pick the angle they were strongest in.
The teams that converted to PPIs and PPOs did three things consistently. First, they picked a sharp, narrow angle rather than trying to redesign the whole bank, one specific customer segment, one specific product, one specific channel. Second, they grounded the recommendation in real Axis Bank context, the latest investor presentation, public strategy statements from Amitabh Chaudhry, recent product launches like Burgundy Private, and the bank's stated priorities on Bharat Banking and digital. Third, they wrote the deck like a business case, problem framed in numbers, recommendation in one line, financial impact estimated, and a clean implementation roadmap.
The 2026 brief is not public yet, but the bar will be similar. Expect a strategic problem on the future of banking, with the freedom to pick your angle and the obligation to defend it with structure and numbers.
Eight tips that move the needle
What separates Round 3 teams from finalists
1
Pick a teammate with a complementary skill
Two students, one team. If both of you think the same way, the deck will be half-strong. Pair a structured business thinker with a sharp deck builder, or a data-led analyst with a confident presenter. Same-strength teams routinely lose to mixed teams in the later rounds.
2
Read three Axis Bank documents before you start
The latest annual report, the most recent investor presentation, and one press release on a flagship initiative like Burgundy Private or Bharat Banking. This single hour of reading will lift the quality of every slide you build later.
3
Use Axis Bank's own language
Bharat Banking, Burgundy, Open by Axis, Premium customers, digital-first. The right vocabulary signals you have done the work, and senior leaders notice it instantly in the Q&A.
4
Anchor every recommendation in a number
Either Axis Bank's published numbers, RBI data, or a credible external source. Directional statements with no number attached are immediate red flags for an evaluator who reads dozens of decks.
5
Write the executive summary first
Before you build any other slide, write the one-line problem, one-line recommendation and one-line impact. If you cannot say it cleanly, the deck is not ready. Use that page as the brief for every other slide in the deck.
6
Plan the Round 4 deck like a real business case
Problem, why now, recommendation, why this works, financial impact, implementation roadmap, risks. This is the structure Axis Bank's own strategy decks follow internally. Use it.
7
Take screenshots of every submission
Platforms glitch under load. The only safety net is your screenshots, the timestamp on the confirmation page, and the email confirmation. Keep them in a single folder for the whole competition.
8
Rehearse the finale Q&A out loud
List the 15 toughest questions a senior Axis Bank MD could ask, and write the one-paragraph answer for each. The finalists who carry this prep document into Mumbai win the finale more often than the ones who do not.
A closing reframe
Open to 1st and 2nd years. A guaranteed PPO at the end.
Five rounds, a guaranteed PPO for the champions, guaranteed PPIs for runners-up, a Mumbai finale and 1:1 mentorship with Axis Bank leaders for the Top 10. Open to both 1st and 2nd year MBAs at 140+ Top institutes. There are very few competitions in the Indian MBA calendar that combine this scale of reward with this kind of access for 1st years.
Last year, AceMBA students converted MOVES PPIs into final offers. The competition is in only its second edition, the bar to enter is just a team of 2 and a campus email, and the prize at the top is a job offer. Register today, read the InsideKampus page in full, build the team, and start with the executive summary on day one.
A quick checklist before you hit submit on any round
1. The team profile on InsideKampus is complete and the campus email is verified.
2. The submission file is named exactly as the platform asks, with the team name and round.
3. The exec summary fits in one slide and stands on its own.
4. Every claim has a number, with the source named on the slide or in the appendix.
5. You have a screenshot of the confirmation page and the confirmation email.
How AceMBA students prepare for case competitions
AceMBA · Super100 · AceCase Pro
Expert-led classes, real cases and PPO-ready frameworks.
AcePrep Pro and AceCase Pro come together inside Super100, our flagship 12-month track for MBAs who want to win competitions and convert placements in the same year. Every session is recorded, so joining later still gets you the full program.
✦ 35+ expert-led placement classes across Marketing, Finance, Strategy, Operations and Consulting
✦ 12 months of access to every recording, framework and PPT template, so you can catch up whenever you join
✦ Case-solving sessions that walk from framework fundamentals to national-competition submissions
✦ Mock PIs and mock GDs built to mirror the real jury and recruiter panels you will face
✦ 1:1 mentorship from seniors who have won the same competitions and cleared the same PPO processes
✦ A private cohort of MBAs from top B-schools, for peer feedback, team formation and warm intros
Compare notes with peers on the Simulation Assessment, swap reading lists on Axis Bank's strategy, and get senior guidance from students who went through MOVES 2025.
This article references Axis Bank MOVES 2026 for educational and informational purposes only. AceMBA is an independent MBA career-readiness platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or officially associated with Axis Bank, InsideIIM, InsideKampus, Unstop, or any business school referenced. All names, brands, logos and trademarks, including Axis Bank, MOVES, Burgundy, Bharat Banking and Open by Axis, are the sole property of their respective owners and are used here purely for informational and reference purposes. All competition details, eligibility criteria, dates, prizes and round structures are drawn from publicly available sources, including the official InsideKampus competition page, Axis Bank press releases and past student experiences, and may change at the sole discretion of Axis Bank or InsideKampus for the 2026 edition. Always refer to the official InsideKampus page for authoritative details on eligibility, format, dates, prizes and rules. References to past editions and winning approaches are based on publicly shared accounts and AceMBA mentor observations, not on confidential Axis Bank evaluation criteria. Commentary on platform reliability is based on past student experiences and is shared only to help participants prepare proactively. Outcomes vary from team to team, and AceMBA accepts no responsibility for any decision, outcome, expectation or result arising from following the guidance shared here. References to external platforms are for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement, partnership or sponsorship.
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