Banking in Western India getting customer centric | Articles | Newspaper article | Business article | Health article | Free article | News article

Business Plan | Business Process | Business to Business Search

Home > Business > Public Relations > Banking in Western India ...

Banking in Western India getting customer centric

ith the entry of foreign players and multiple delivery channels, retail customers have become more discerning and less "loyal" to banks. They demand faster service and better products. They are less willing to postpone their purchases while their savings build up and are more amenable to making purchases with the help of loans from the banking sector. Against this backdrop of changing tastes, it appears that the western region is leading a revolution in which banking sector customers call the shots.

Technology savvy customers demand net based banking

As the pace of life in urban and semi urban areas picks up, retail customers of banks demand faster services which will facilitate their transactions. In answer, banks have employed technology based solutions, which are spreading their wings and covering every area of banking. These solutions have resulted in better tracking of bank accounts and faster transactions. The entry of ATMs has made the conventional brick and mortar branch banking partially redundant! Customers who have access to these facilities no longer prefer to visit branches for their day to day banking transactions like cash deposits, withdrawals, cheque collection, balance enquiry, etc. What’s more, internet, mobile and phone banking have opened new avenues in “convenience banking”. Internet banking has also led to a reduction in transaction costs for banks to about a tenth of branch banking, the benefits of which are shared between banks and customers. And net savvy customers are taking to the use of internet quite readily, choosing banks that offer these facilities over those that do not.

Western India - Paving the way for retail credit

The fear of purchasing on credit has receded considerably. Unlike in the past, consumers are comfortable with the idea of purchasing electronic equipment, homes, home furnishing and numerous other requirements on credit. In fact, they are comfortable funding education and festival expenses with the help of loans too. This is apparent from the spurt in banking sector retail loans in recent times.

The western region occupies a major chunk of the retail loan portfolio of the entire banking industry, with a share of 36 per cent of the total loans. The country’s third largest public sector bank, Bank of Baroda, has a strong presence in this region with 47 per cent of its total deposits and 54 per cent of its total retail credit coming from this territory.

With Indian perceptions towards credit changing, the use of credit cards is growing too and will continue to be a growth area for Indian banks.

Next generation customers will drive future banking initiatives

With a growing population of ‘generation next’ individuals, who are technology savvy and joining the corporate workforce, the future of retail banking seems rather optimistic, especially for banks that take to heart the philosophy of `convenience banking'. With changing consumer attitudes towards banking and technological advancements in the banking sector, we could witness the emergence of highly varied financial products tailored to meet specific needs of the customers in the retail space.

Article Source: http://articlebusiness.net/

Please Rate this Article