interview
We are also using analytics to
detect fraud. Last year, we noticed
a pattern of fraudulent transactions
We have a very large number of
We’ve talked about
how State Bank of India
is approaching the
marketplace. Now, let’s talk
about changes
in the marketplace itself.
In what ways has digital
technology transformed
banking in India?
occurring with our ATMs. We products in our core banking system, drilled down and identified specific and to know about all of them would geographical clusters, and from there, be a daunting task for any teller or a group of people who we discovered front-line employee. With AI, we were related to one another. With can easily fish out the information very rapidly due to the lower price
analytics, we were able to stop this regarding a particular transaction, or of smartphones and the greater
kind of fraud. how a particular transaction needs availability of 4G data connectivity.
to be performed. This can save a This has led to a massive increase in
branches fraud is likely to happen, so considerable amount of time, while the demand for mobile apps.
that we can alert the branch staff and enabling our staff to render better keep a better vigil. As a result, we can services.
Similarly, we can predict at which
bring down fraud losses in this area.
The Indian marketplace is changing
Along with that is the revolution
in mobile payments with the
As an example: Given our large
Unified Payment Interface, or UPI,
customer base, every day we which allows mobile apps to easily
market risk or currency risk, but those receive applications from the heirs incorporate purchases and bill
risks you have to mitigate through of deceased customers. But for any payments. UPI is one of the finest
other means. given teller, this is a relatively rare implementations of its kind that I have
event. Unless the teller knows how to seen anywhere in the world. It enables
handle a case of this delicate nature, you to make payments in real-time
this customer may not be served from your account into the account
correctly. of anyone else in the country, at any
There are also external risks such as
Does the analytics-based
strategy scale down to
smaller banks?
Analytics is like oxygen. Everybody
AI can also check the consistency
time. And the best part is that you
has to have it. Whether you are of information in legacy accounts. can make payments from your State
small or whether you are big, you State Bank of India was established Bank of India account using either a
have to breathe. I don’t think a bank in 1806, and we have been third-party bank’s UPI app or State
today can survive without customer performing banking service Bank of India’s own UPI app, and it
analytics. continuously for 213 years since. works just the same.
For very small banks to do analytics
Many of our customers’ accounts
The UPI ecosystem has created
in-house would be a challenge, so have been open for 70 to 80 years, a huge amount of innovation. For
they should get their analytics done and in many of these cases, the example, UPI is the most important
by third-party service providers and information may be obsolete. With method of payment for the Google
then make use of the results. AI monitoring the consistency of Pay digital wallet in India. We are
information in our back-end systems, one of the four banks to partner with
we can prompt the teller to ask Google Pay in India. And if WhatsApp
customers to update their customer or any other payment service starts
records as needed. This will improve a UPI service in the future, we will be
communication across all channels, able to partner with them as well.
How are you working
to improve analytics
in the future?
Artificial intelligence is the most
important tool that any bank should
boost customer satisfaction, and help
We are also partnering in stored
be using today if it wants to fulfill to ensure that we have the highest- value cards, including one designed
expectations for customer service. quality data for analytics. by the National Payment Corporation
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