Banks must manage multiple issues including the arrest of revenue reduction and bad loans along with customer service quality. During Covid 19, the banking sector had to launch new products whilst providing enhanced service quality at the same time. These customised products, however, need to provide value to the customers.
Banks introduced many services where the clients did not find value addition. Banks need to see to it that all value addition strategies they implement are creating an increased willingness to pay and the cost of value creation is reduced. The product launches have to be decided through resource optimization and cost management.
Customer centric services
Banking services are very complex due to the legal issues, legacy, technology complexity, and customer behaviour they entail. During Covid 19, the customers sought better convenience, along with efficiency. They wanted information and education on each of the bank products. Customers also require the same service quantity across multiple bank channels. Indian banks managed to successfully enhance and standardise their customer services while also launching many new products while keeping in mind the cost-value paradox.
State bank of India keeping in mind “customer’s convenience” offered YONO - PAPL (Pre-Approved Personal Loan), PAXC (Pre-Approved Xpress Credit), PAPNL (Pre-Approved Pension Loan), INSTA Top-up for Xpress Credit and Insta Top-up for Pension Loan. for corporate clients. The SBI also launched five applications namely CINB, CMP, SCFU, e-Trade, and e-Forex. These applications only required a single sign-in through the YONO app and customers accessed all the applications.
SBI YONO is a lifestyle app that offers mobile banking along with a one-stop shop with financial services investment, insurance, and shopping solutions.
Stronger Feedback Channels
To increase customer service quality, SBI also upgraded its complaint Management System (CMS) to enable fast and simple lodging of customer complaints and feedback suggestions. CMS became more efficient and effective with the launch of Circle Complaints Resolution Centres (CCRC) in all Circles. The CCRC not only increased the speed of customer complaints but also made the branches free from complaint handling so that the branches could concentrate more on business development and customer service. SBI contact centres operated 24*7*365 and serviced in 12 major regional languages including Hindi and English.
Union Bank of India launched public grievances redressal mechanism (SPGRM) a web-based online system that let the customers lodge a complaint with ease and allowed them to track their status.
SBI had also deployed Virtual Private Network (VPN) to increase the efficiency of resource management. VPN helped the operational staff across India to Work From Anywhere (WFA) and ensured “Business-As-Usual”.
Priority lending is the main segment of a bank, where a bank gives services to agriculture customers and MSMEs. SBI launched YONO Krishi, which is a comprehensive multi-lingual platform for agriculture segment customers offering simplified finance (KCC-Review/Agri Gold Loans), advisory/market intelligence-related services (Mitra) as well as market linkages through the Online Market Place (Mandi). Bank of Baroda BoB launched End-to-End digitised loan processing for Micro Personal Loans for retail and MSME segments thus helping to reduce the turnaround time significantly thereby increasing customer satisfaction. Union Bank launched the DIAL-A-LOAN facility for various loan product options. 5 crore, Straight through processing of online retail and MSME loans.
Punjab National Bank Integrated all its branches of OCBC and eUNI with PNB and upgraded from Finacle 7 to 10, thus enhancing standardised customer experience. Video KYC process which was started in Covid 19 times has become an integral part of the opening of Saving Account through online mode now too.
Innovations within the Banking Sector
Union Bank of India added new features in value-added services like Setting Standing Instructions & Personalise Transaction Limits. Services like buying PMJJBY insurance cover through the UMobile app and Mobile Banking services for NRIs were also launched.
It was that Bank of Baroda launched TAB Banking where Savings bank customers and current account customers transact on-boarded in a paperless format. The digital platform gave an end-to-end standardised quality experience. Union Bank launched 5 channels (SMS, Missed Call, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, and Call Centre ) for 6 Products ( Personal Loan, Home Loan, Vehicle Loan, Credit Card, MSME loan, and Shishu Mudra). Customers could use any channels to avail of the products at their convenience.
Indian PSU banks harmonised its all products, policies, and processes which resulted in the launching of new innovations with a standardised quality of customer service experience across the digital platform.
(Dr Prashant Salwan is a professor of Strategy at IIM Indore; Dr Srinivasan. R Iyengar is a Director at JBIMS, University of Mumbai)
