- By MILAN K SINHA
The Indian economy is passing through a
difficult phase – GDP growth is lower, inflation is going out of control, regulatory
initiatives are not bringing desired results. One of the main economic change
agents – Indian Banks, despite having all support from the central government
and the regulator, are finding it difficult to register both top line as well
as bottom line growth relatively well. As such,
Banks in the country are left
with little option except focusing on their stakeholder's satisfaction to stay
reasonably healthy & performing. But to serve and satisfy today's customers
- the real stakeholders is proving to be difficult as the customer is slowly becoming demanding and is
also undergoing change in his banking
needs & requirements. Gandhiji was amazingly prophetic when he said on this subject : "A customer is not an interruption on the work of a Bank, but he is the reason for the Bank's existence..."
In fact, whenever a customer visits the Bank, he casts a vote of confidence in that Bank which is the ultimate index of Bank's credibility in this fiercely competitive market. Please enjoy my two liner before moving ahead:
'कष्ट' से मरे जो वह 'कस्टमर' (customer) कहलाए
'ग्राह्य' करने का जिसे 'हक़' हो, वही 'ग्राहक' कहलाए .
In fact, whenever a customer visits the Bank, he casts a vote of confidence in that Bank which is the ultimate index of Bank's credibility in this fiercely competitive market. Please enjoy my two liner before moving ahead:
'कष्ट' से मरे जो वह 'कस्टमर' (customer) कहलाए
'ग्राह्य' करने का जिसे 'हक़' हो, वही 'ग्राहक' कहलाए .
You would agree and appreciate, Banking is not files, furniture, computers & electronic gadgets, rather it is people mainly the stakeholders. No doubt, Banks use these items and many more only to cater to the customers' needs & requirements which change a bit rapidly now with large younger population joining the fold of account holders. The regulator's constant follow up with all Banks for ground level implementation of financial inclusion directives have added a significant dimension to inclusive growth story of Indian economy.
Since nationalisation of 14 commercial Banks in 1969 & with LPG ( LIberalisation, Privatisation & Globalisation) in financial sector two decades ago, the Banking sector has grown geographically, numerically, conceptually & technologically. The frontiers have been widening with emergence of newer dimensions on regular basis. The days of relatively 'easy' manual banking was replaced by technologically advanced 'busy' banking.
Now the expectation from every quarter is nothing but excellence and as we know, "Excellence is not the destination, rather its a journey", which Indian Banking is yet to appreciate fully & act accordingly for whatever reasons.
Published in Patna Daily .com
Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.
Now the expectation from every quarter is nothing but excellence and as we know, "Excellence is not the destination, rather its a journey", which Indian Banking is yet to appreciate fully & act accordingly for whatever reasons.
Published in Patna Daily .com
Will meet again with Open Mind. All the Best.
Very thoght- provoking. The growth story /dream cannot be realised without bank's active involvement through inclusion plans, which should be taken up as a robust business plan and not as an obligation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your candid comments. Indian Banking is still to travel some extra miles to achieve the desired benchmark. Let us hope, it happens soon. Keep reading, sharing & commenting.All the Best.
DeleteYou have opened a the most current burning issue.Inspite of tremendus expansion in terms of number of deposit & advance acconnts as well as ten fold increase in number of branches during last 33 years,Yet the banking facilities is still beyond the reach of over half of elligible Indian population who need it most.Banking is a sensitive area where hasty policalised decisions may harm the overall national interest. It is essential that financial institutions be allowed to run in healthy manner rather than using this for short term political milage.No sensible person will disagree with the urgency of Financial inclusion,yet the manner in which it is being tried to be implented needs serious rethinking. I HOPE THESE ISSUES OF IMLEMENTATION WILL COME IN YOUR NEXT ISSUES. I expect much wider participation for all those interested in long term economic growth of the county.All the best.
ReplyDeleteN.K.Verma
Thanks a lot. Your concerns are very genuine. I shall try to address all relevant issues in my subsequent posts. All the Best.
DeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteThanks to you for raising burning issues.
All Nationlised banks has to be chanelised their man power in such a way that each and every work should not be emposed to a single person.
In nationalised bank "Jack of All Trades Master of None" makes staff members unsocial.
A K S
Lot of thanks. You are correct. Hope, the things would change for better with growing awareness of stakeholders. DO keep reading & reacting. All the Best.
DeleteYou have raised one of the fundamental issues that today Banking sector is facing and requires immediate attention. Looking forward to more posts dealing with Banking & Insurance sector problems.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading the post and sharing your point of view. I shall try to address issues related to Banking & Insurance in my next posts. Keep reading, sharing & commenting. All the Best.
DeleteIndian Financial Institutions have undergone transformation during last few decades. There has been change of major stakeholder,whose expectation are of inclusive & massbanking whereas expectation of customers are class banking. The striking of balance between the two ends could not be achived because of conservative attitude of top management & undue interferance of major stakeholder.
ReplyDeleteMahima Prakash
Thanks a lot for going through the post and also expressing your point of view very clearly. Your concerns are genuine & need to be addressed by all concerned especially the policy makers & regulators. Pl. keep commenting. All the Best.
DeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely you raised a burning question on our Indian Financial system which is going to transformation since few years. Here the doubt is not to raise the business. Business will come but the question is how to retain our customers because banks become fully dependent on customers. I see in the banks that how our bank's staff become anxious for getting Saving Account, Current Account, getting deposits, sanctioning loans etc to our valuable customers.The answer for retaining our customer is to give best services, give true and perfect knowledge of our products and one main thing is to educate the customers for our financial products and services.
Amitabh Ranjan
SUDLIFE
Thanks for reading and sharing your point of view on the subject nicely. In fact, Banking is the lifeline of our financial system which must be kept in sound health. Hope, all concerned would do the needful in this direction. Keep reading, sharing & commenting. All the Best.
DeleteDear Sinhaji, I was going through your blogs on Banking industry with a lot of interest. Today, Banks are not only doing traditional banking but also dishing out out other financial services to their large client base. In the core banking scenario, it was mostly the customer who came to the bank - to put his money safely or to borrow money - again his own need. But with rising inter-bank competitiveness, and the changing customer requirements, Banks staff are required to become more 'marketing oriented'. Only then can they bring in better core business but also higher third party income through selling other fianncial services.
ReplyDeleteThis means ownership and commitment levels of the bank officials to other streams of business must improve. If that happens, Banks can prosper much better.
GVR
Thanks a lot for reading the post and sharing your point of view so candidly. You are absolutely correct. This is the biggest challenge before today's Indian Banking which needs to be addressed urgently for their own larger benefit. Pl. keep reading & reacting for my motivation too. All the Best.
ReplyDelete