BANKS AND BYTES

IN THE NEXT 25 YEARS, GROUND-BREAKING TECH LIKE METAVERSE, THE ACCOUNT AGGREGATOR PLATFORM, DIGITAL CURRENCY AND UPI WILL CHANGE THE FACE OF THE INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY

- BY ANAND ADHIKARI

DIGITAL PAYMENTS DOMINATE

TOTAL PAYMENTS ₹1,810.51 LAKH CRORE TOTAL DIGITAL PAYMENTS ₹1,744.01 LAKH CRORE

UPI'S TURNOVER IS SMALL BUT GROWING FASTER THAN CARDS AND OTHER DIGITAL MODES

TOTAL RETAIL PAYMENTS ₹523.4 LAKH CRORE NEFT ₹287.25 LAKH CRORE UPI PAYMENTS

SOURCE PAYMENTS AND SETTLEMENT STATISTICS FY22, RBI ₹84.15 LAKH CRORE CARD PAYMENTS ₹17.01 LAKH CRORE

At Union Bank of India’s metaverse banking offering, you have three choices to select your avatar. Universe, as the state-owned bank calls its hi-tech offering, logs you in directly outside the bank’s branch. Do keep in mind that you need to enter the branch via the proper gate. So if you’re doing this for the first time, navigating to the entry point alone will take you a few minutes. Once inside, you come across a massive virtual lobby with LED screens on both sides. There is an avatar of a branch manager sitting at the far corner. On the right, there are counters with screens for banking services and customer service. On the left, there are wealth management and digital lending counters. In case you are interested in understanding the journey of the bank, there is a screen to take you through its history since inception. While Union Bank’s initiative cannot be strictly called the metaverse, it is a scenario closer to reality, which enables customers to experiment and then choose a banking product. This is the first step banks are taking to create a virtual branch.