Digitizing Banking

Information Technology is emerging as a huge change-maker in how people deposit, save, dispense and spend their hard-earned money. It has reduced costs for the banks and made the process automatic, fast and transparent. While J&K is almost inches away from having nearly half of the total transactions through automated systems, the new generation banking may need more people on the street than in a branch

-  Masood Hussain

People going to shrine of Dastgir Sahab in Srinagar might have seen a POS (point of sale) machine with a Wakf employee. While devotees traditionally bring in their contributions in kind and cash, the possibility is that a section of them may be carrying cards only. They can swap the card, take a receipt and make a donation. It is more transparent now and lands directly in the shrine account unlike the chicken, goats and the sacks of rice.

This is just a glimpse of the future of money movement. By early 2018, with Aadhaar identities being linked with the bank accounts across India, the ongoing movement of digitizing money matters will become a reality. J&K, by the end of Q1 of 2017 had 40 percent of the 9012935 saving accounts linked with Aadhaar and 72 percent with cell phones. Now it has moved a lot beyond. Now plastic cards will swap and money will be transacted. With the internet and the cell phone playing the key bridging role, the integrated systems linking the business, the banker and the customer will have a different experience of earning and spending in coming days. And stay assured, the systems will know where one earns and where the earnings go.

“It must be surprising to you that now more than 48 percent of transactions in our banks in J&K are not physical,” a senior executive of the J&K Bank said. “Clients use our diverse automated platforms to withdraw cash or transfer it.” Private sector HDFC bank that has its foundations on the IT from the outset has 80 percent transactions through automated systems.