There is also a challenge in improving digital literacy while moving customers to new technologies and protecting systems from cyber security incidents, Setty said while addressing FIBAC 2024, a banking summit organised by the Indian Banks’ Association and FICCI.
He said SBI has been able to create resilience in the system. While ensuring this, the country’s largest lender had to ensure an improved customer experience against the backdrop of legacy systems.
SBI had to reimagine customer journeys and engage with a few fintech players and software solution providers. Most of them struggle to work with major banks as legacy systems have to be integrated with the agile systems they develop, he added.
Referring to spending on technology, Setty said there are three kinds: first, banks are spending to meet regulatory requirements, which are non-negotiable. The second kind of spending is for doing or getting new business. The third is for user or customer experience.
“Most of the time people are not able to distinguish between what is essential and what is not essential. That is one important area to look at when we talk about productivity. The second feature is about spending on digital transformation. A series of technology upgrades can’t be called transformation,” he added.
The investment in technology has to be for creating end-to-end experiences and processes that will result in operational efficiency. This is something we need to look at.
“Something not related to technology is needed to look at if the processes and digital interfaces that have been rolled out are helping to handle large volumes of transactions. What kind of redeployment has happened in areas where they (bank staff) can go out to mobilise business? Banks have not focused on the redeployment part. While considering productivity gains, which have to come from technology spend, there is a need to look at data redeployment and business accretive demand,” he added.
First Published: Sep 05 2024 | 8:51 PM IST
