Indian banks, both public and private, have constantly endeavored to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction. Private sector banks, despite their late entry into the industry, have consistently challenged and in some cases even surpassed the service quality standards of public sector banks. A number of studies have captured the issue of service quality from the customers’ perspectives; however, studies examining the bankers’ outlook on the same are rare. The current research is a path-breaking attempt to understand the priorities of the bank strategists with respect to service development. An empirical analysis of the views of 364 bank officials employed with 33 Indian banks and engaged in the development/execution of bank strategies reveals that though the preferred service development strategies of public and private sector banks vary, there is no significant difference in the importance given to service development strategies by both categories of banks.

Service development is imperative to the functioning of the banks. It is one of the reasons why the ‘bank customer’ concept has replaced the erstwhile ‘branch customer’ concept, and service development has emerged as a key ingredient of bank strategy (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1989).

If we look at the contemporary bank strategies, it is not possible to make sense of them without technology. As we see them today, bank strategies capitalize on technology, they cultivate technology and technology is also driving the cognition of these strategies (Itami and Numagami, 1992). Use of technology, therefore, has altered the service delivery paradigm of Indian banks.

Service Development Strategies, Public and Private Sector Banks, A Comparative Study