Several Founders, Co-Founders, CXO Bankers, CXO Fintech professional & people who participated in the ePanel discussions:
- Mr. Rajiv Rai, former Chief Digital Officer, Edelweiss
- Mr. Arvind Narayanan, Co-Founder, Enlearning skill development Pvt ltd
- Mr. Neeraj Chandra, Head of Operations and Technology, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
- Mr. P B Prakash, Head-Financial Institutions Group, Indusind Bank
- Ms. Hemal Vira, GEVP & Head- NRI Products, Remittances, and International Alliances, YES Bank
- Mr. Devatanu Banerjee, Co-Founder of Trellys Brand Inc, Co-Organiser of Tensor Flow User Group Toronto
- Mr. Abhishek Arun, Senior Vice President, Paytm
- Mr. Abhishek Mody, former Associate Director-Payment & Digital Initiatives, IDFC First Bank
- Mr. Vikas R Panditrao, Co-Founder, Forum of Industry and Academic Knowledge Sharing (FIAKS)
- Many other CEO/CXO Bankers & Fintech professionals on FIAKS Forum requested to remain anonymous
The majority of the banks claim that their preferred banking services product is supposed to provide clients with a complete digital and paper-free experience. Isn’t this offered to all the customers as banks are pushing customers to go digital? How is normal banking services getting differentiated from the preferred banking services? Community member says that to him it appears all the same or many of the product features offered are not relevant at all. Members raised several questions on Preferred Banking services offered by the Banks :
Question 1: Will these banks will ever be able to compete with Fintechs/Neo banks? Isn’t it the time for the bureaucratic set-up within the banks to think beyond the Preferred Banking as only offering big fancy Sofas to the clients?
Question 2: Why do banks spend so much money on doing interior designing of the branch which customers hardly visit in this digital space? Instead why not partner with some 5-star hotel and meet the customers over coffee. Doesn’t this sound quite relevant or make justice to the word ‘preferred banking’ in the literal sense and also that would comparatively be cheaper.
Question 3: Is there an actual need for having a dedicated manager who will work 10 to 6? Instead, a dedicated call center support 24×7 would be more cost-effective. Isn’t it?
Members say anyone who comes to the market and says; I would not differentiate but my systems and processes will work and are user-friendly, 90% digital will take a large market share and the younger generation in the country will think of the big banks as archaic similar to how we felt when our orients made us open PSU bank accounts and we then lapped up private sector banks
Thereupon a community member had a very divergent view. He opined that these preferred lounges are for high net worth individuals. They prefer having a confidential space where investments and like matters can be discussed safely. A public coffee house or a co-working space won’t work. Plus, banks use this space to do many events such as art evenings, wine tasting, market views, etc. So a dedicated space helps. Most private banking managers do not work 10-6. They are available round the clock. So, while the infra is expensive, he is of the view that a small investment helps to differentiate them from the other banks & fintech.
Firstly, here’s why a purely digital bank is not a panacea to all ills: Register and Read the entire discussions