Indian banking has embraced automation in a big way. From inter-branch reconciliation and balancing of books, automation has been directed towards customer-centric products and services. ATMs, Internet and tele-banking have ushered in the era of convenience banking. Banks now focus on integration of IT strategy and business strategy for enhancing efficiency and productivity. Risk management through IT is another area of strategy. In future, the real growth drivers for cost-cutting would be ATMs, Internet banking, mobile banking, kiosks etc. Truly there could be 24 x 7 basis provision of services. There could also be strategic alliances and partnerships amongst banks.
Banks in India have been up-scaling the automation during the last 15 years, with varying degrees of accomplishments. The thrust in the initial years was on data processing, inter-branch reconciliation and management information systems. Later, the effort has become customer-centric, with accent on provision of automated products and services to the customers in the form of cash dispensation machines, pass book printers, demand draft printers etc. Once the gigantic problems of balancing of books and inter-branch reconciliation have been solved through automation, branch personnel have become more productive and are in fact in a position of efficiently address service-related issues of the customers. During the transition phase, there was pruning of staff in the form of a voluntary retirement scheme of the year 2000, wherein, over a lakh of employees in the public sector banks, predominantly in the age group of 45 to 54 have been retired, obviously due to their inadeptness to an automated environment.
Banks have different kinds of experiences in the transition phase. Some of the nationalized banks were early birds, having commissioned computer policy and programs departments, with a view to develop in-house expertise. This process proved to be slow paced and in many cases inadequate to the task.
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