Banking on the Future: Keeping up with the Financial Landscape

Noida: New age financial technologies are changing the way people interact with any financial institution and their expectations for the products and services they receive. Today, apps and online interfaces need to be engaging, intuitive and completely secure without being awkward to use. On the other hand, the future of banking will be relying on innovation, digital disruptions with lesser human touch. But no one can deny that the future rests on the amalgamation both phycial and digital banking together.

In this context, a panel discussion, titled ‘Banking on the Future: Keeping up with the Financial Landscape’ was conducted in virtual ‘BFSI Finnovation Conclave,’ organised by APAC News Network on 24-25 February 2022. Souvik Goswami, Co-founder & Chief Group Editor, APAC News Network moderated the session. Nitin Kuchhal, Senior Vice President – Digital Banking, Yes Bank, Deepak Sarda, GM-IT & CTO, Indian Bank, E Ratan Kumar, Sr GM & CTO, Central Bank of India, Sekar S, General Manager & CIO, Karur Vysya Bank, Murali Mohan Rao Manduva, CTO, DCB Bank, Jasmine Gupta, National President, Rural Financial Inclusion Council, WICCI and Joe Robertson, EMEA CISO, Fortinet were the other speakers.

Kick starting the session, Souvikset the stage for the speakers to discuss a wide range of topics from the new challenges in banking and the way the Indian banking system is evolving. Nitin kick-started with a small comparison on how banking as an industry was functioning in the last one decade and the way in the last 7 to 8 years, the industry evolved. “We are seeing the new innovations in terms of API,Machine Learning, Artificial intelligence and robotics are likely to come in more numbers and change the banking scenario”, he said.

Agreeing to the point, Deepak mentioned that data is critical and maintaining it becomes a key challenge for any security head. He also highlighted the trends where banking is moving towards lesser human interaction. “We can notice there is already a reduction in the number of walkin in the banks. I can sense almost 50% of a customer today is done online”, he said.

Ratan touched upon the customer experience which is taking the center stage. Even though the industry is turning towards the digital aspect of banking, the Indian banking sector is in a situation where we have to choose between rational to emotional connect, mere systems to relationship and feedback.

Joe Robertson pointed out the advantages and disadvantages in both traditional and new age banking. “While the traditional banks have the advantage of legacy, they lack the new-age technology. Whereas, the new age fintech companies might have the updated systems, but they might not have a personalized human connect”, he said. He also touched upon how multi-factor-authentication is taking center stage with the evolving of new cyber crimes and attacks.

Roles and customization in Banking:

While the role of banking is moving towards different angles, Sekar touched upon the important aspect of the role a bank will have. “We were only a bank earlier. Today, we are looking at avenues beyond banking- insurance, mutual fund etc. In fact, in my opinion, banks might also start selling groceries in the coming days. Such is the way financial inclusion is happening across”, he said.

Murali credited the entire Indian bankingeco system for the growth of the sector. “The Indian banking sector is quite adoptable. If we see the kind of adoption the UPI is having is enormous. We are also noticing the acceptance of UPI is also increasing. This will create a win-win situation for everyone”, he said.

According to Jasmine, it is the human touch and customization that matters. “What a fisherman community needs from a bank might not be the same as the needs of a millenial. Thus, customization is going to be the king. The neo banks should bring an inclusive customization which addresses the needs of all walks of the life, from women, to students to blue-collar professionals and more”, she said further adding her hopes on the neo-banks.

Concluding his note, Souvik said that the future of Indian Banking Industry looks brighter with inclusion of more and more technology and innovation, but with a mix of human touch.