Of all the inventions that truly revolutionised modern life, the Internet surely ranks as one of the top contenders. Combined with automation workflows powered by analytics in the backend, technology has revolutionized the banking experience for all customers, especially those with NRI accounts and FCNR accounts, which are less accessible physically. Banking today is less of a financial business and more of a technology business, and no wonder, the focus of investors is so high in the Fintech industry.

However, Indians were a little slow in adapting to the Internet and are still being pushed towards using it effectively through policy level interventions. The hesitation in using the Internet for banking stems from concerns surrounding online security and ability to understand the digitized processes, despite the high ubiquity and personalization offered. However, online sites and banks soon began to use the strictest security measures and promoted the possibilities of fraud were minimal. Indians slowly adapted to the wonders of the Internet.

Today, banking extensively uses the digital medium to reach the farthest corners of the country with the click of a button. Technology has eliminated long lines at banks and made customers more self-reliant with their finances.  For example, an NRI holding an NRI account in a bank in India can easily access the account to make transactions sitting anywhere in the world. Similar facilities are now extended towards FCNR accounts in most banks, if not all.

Internet banking has truly revolutionised personal banking for NRI and PIOs residing outside India; for the first time, these customers were not required to step into the bank to transact. It was a big bold step in personal banking services, where automation played a huge role. This also required huge policy level interventions to modify processes and led to a change in the organizational structures within these banks. Needless to say, it was not easy. Further, the banks had to facilitate cheque book requests, money transfers, opening savings and fixed deposit accounts, etc, without the physical presence of these customers in the bank offices. But with Internet banking, the physical presence of the bank soon became a thing of the past for many people, as they began to use their laptops and mobile phones to access their bank accounts.

And so, in the current times, the internet has helped banks become to customers. The internet driven by analytics and automated workflows have helped banks personalise the entire banking experience, with minimal intervention required from a bank official. The digital revolution in banking is helping scores of Indian banks from anywhere at any time, without the need of specialised knowledge to connect with NRIs and PIOs residing outside India. All the customer needs today is a working knowledge of their mobile phones – the banking app or digital website provides every banking service in an easy format which anybody can navigate. All these three approaches for accessing banking services are powered by the internet. Moreover, some banks are also offering banking in regional languages to include a wider base of customers, although for NRIs and PIOs, this is seldom a challenge. Thus, the bank is now accessible through the power of the web, and this has drastically reduced the pressure at the service offices and made outcomes faster and error free.

• Business