S Sekar, General Manager and Chief Information Officer (CIO), Karur Vysya Bank
The Indian banking industry is keen to adopt digital innovation but several customers still ask for face-to-face meetings. While we cannot say ‘no’ to any customer, we educate them regarding the flexibility and convenience of using use tech-led banking, says S Sekar, General Manager and Chief Information Officer (CIO), Karur Vysya Bank, in conversation with Elets News Network (ENN).
There is a vogue of technology implementation across the banking sector. Where do you see Karur Vysya Bank in terms of innovations?
While every organisation is concentrating on digital adoption, we have quietly implemented booking of all retail loans under digital technologies, end-to-end. For instance, a customer under the self-service model can submit a vehicle loan online using his mobile in 10 minutes and the sanction can also be achieved in another five minutes time. Similarly, for a home loan in 20 minutes too. We have so far implemented 24 products under retail loans category and five products under commercial category purely end-to-end online including documentation.
What are the major threats faced by Indian banks in terms of tech-deployments? How do you overcome these challenges?
The biggest threat faced by Indian banks is the cybersecurity threat. While the Industry has opened up for digital innovation, the associated threats are also on the higher side. We have designed a rugged cybersecurity framework in consultation with regulators and implemented the same and of course a lot of awareness and discipline support is also required from the users and we are fortunate to have the same.
Despite the rising usage of digital banking, consumers still rely on face-to-face meetings in terms of big investments. What should be done to enhance people’s faith in tech-led banking?
While we cannot say ‘no’ to any customer who is interested in face-to-face meetings, however, we educate the customers regarding the flexibility and convenience of using tech-led banking.
What are your views on the Indian regulations with regards to technology and its role in the banking sector? What are the areas that need to be revisited?
Banking is a highly regulated industry and while we are free to implement any technology for the benefit of customers it should be under the regulator defined framework only. But these stringent measures are necessary considering the sensitivity of our industry. I feel that security should be further tightened to ensure the confidence reposed by our customers.
What innovations have you planned this year?
Our innovations will continue to be around digital innovations and strengthening our cybersecurity. We strongly feel that the availability of service to our customers always is paramount than anything.
