Digital platforms will enhance banks’ reach-out capability: Report

 The Dollar Business Bureau The creation of digital environment is now a priority for all banks and they need to undergo considerable investment for achieving complete transformation. This was stated in a Confederation of Industry (CII)-PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) joint study report titled ‘Banks taking a quantum leap through digital’, released at the CII National BANKing TECH Summit in Mumbai on Tuesday. Stating that the digital intervention is reality in today’s banking business, the CII-PwC report urged banks to adapt and respond to the digital intervention process to stay ahead in competition. The digital foregrounds have already shown the banking industry ways to develop new business models to attract customers and the digital platforms will change the entire eco-system of the banking industry, the report added. According to the report, in 2015, the topmost trends were seen in areas like customer acquisition and engagement strategies, data driven innovations, disruptive solutions in the payment space and disruptive innovations from the non-conventional financial players, among others. Further referring to the e-commerce boom that has fuelled customers’ comfort with the online purchases, the report suggested the banks to make use of such e-commerce channels to reach out to new customers, including those in smaller cities. The report further highlighted the increase in smart phone usage, supported by the median prices, aided by policy and frameworks being regulated by the regulators and urged the banks to also make use of these innovative platforms. “With non-traditional players such as Telcos, Fintech start-ups and niche payments companies disrupting the digital space, there will be an increased responsibility on traditional banks to augment their current capabilities with innovation in the ecosystem, potentially leveraging investments, to maintain their differentiation,” said Vivek Belgavi, leader of Financial Services Technology PwC India, at the release event. The security breaches damage the reputation of the digital solutions, the report said, adding that the complex business and growing use of technology has led to international regulatory committees to form guidelines on technology and risk management systems so as to ensure the robustness of information systems.      

This article was published on April 22, 2015 – 3:05 pm IST.