BANGALORE, INDIA: ‘India Emerging’ is the slogan that we often read about in the context of the growth that we have witnessed in the recent past. Be it the economy ups and downs or winning medals in Olympics to embracing technology for advancement, the country has come a long way (though we have a long way to go compared to other emerging countries)

India is fast moving up the value chain in terms of reaching out to the masses via Internet as a medium. Though the vast majority of the population come under rural India (with 1.2 billion population, approximately 70 percent live in rural India), Internet is one media that can go places and be called as the social face. One cannot ignore the dynamics of being online and the reach it provides to the deeper corners of the geography.

The commerce online is a big arena one could not have visualized a decade back on the change it has brought today to the world with the popularity of Internet. Businesses would be left behind for not being online and for lack of relevance it brings to the table, leading to least of impact it creates in the online world.

The online world in India stands at over 80 million active users (as per Internet World Stats Usage and population statistics, Updated June 30, 2009), that’s a mere 7 percent penetration on the overall population. However, the growth has been progressive and growing rapidly in the urban India.

The intent and the effort seem to be channelized in the right direction with government tying up with big private players to address internet penetration onto rural India. The landscape is quite right for anyone who intends to reach out to masses. Banking is one such critical part of the socio-economic well-being, and can definitely benefit with the internet outreach programs put forth by the government. But, lot still needs to be done to keep pace with the evolution of technology in India.

With the emanation of Internet Banking, Tele-Banking, Mobile Banking, TV Banking making news, masses can definitely benefit with such varied channels for transactions. However, there is a serious need for convergence across various such channels, and it is time for financial institutions to innovate.

The Canvas

In India, as being traditionally followed for decades, people tend to visit their nearest branch for any of the bank related activities. Even with the introduction of Internet Banking, vast majority continue to believe in being present onsite at the branch. There is a sense of belonging and the connection that they have built with a particular bank/branch and the people who provide the services. The people across the counters are the real face of the bank, and absence of this personal touch is what makes the vast majority feel insecure in terms of dealing with their finances.

With the massive explosion in population, one cannot imagine the amount of man power required to serve the vast majority, who believe in onsite banking in-lieu of online banking. However, the trends are slowly traversing towards online banking with the current generation and the generations to follow have been/will witness the electronic age right from the word ‘Go’.

While some part of current generation and vast majority of older generation have witnessed the evolution of Internet (online) banking, there is a level of trust and belief that is slowly building up towards the online medium. Certain statistics indicate that 4-5 percent of the overall retail bankers indulge in online banking whereas, the rest fall back on onsite presence at the branches.

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(The author works as an Enterprise Architect Advisor at Microsoft)

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