Netbanking has expanded reach of banks, says DCB

Praveen Kutty

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Head — Retail, DCB Bank  

talks to Sanjeev Sharma 

Online products are changing the way banking is done. Praveen Kutty, Head — Retail and SME Banking, DCB Bank, talks about the retail expansion of the bank and online banking trends.

Q: What are the initiatives taken by DCB Bank in retail banking?

A: Customers understand value proposition and vote with their wallets.

This is also true for DCB Bank retail banking. Savings and fixed deposit products are made to satisfy customer feedback.

As on June 30, 2015, the bank grew deposits by 26% to Rs 13,269 crore as compared to deposits as on June 30, 2014. Over the same period, savings accounts grew by 18%.

The bank has also steadily grown distribution and reach. The bank has added branches in new geographies. At the end of the last financial year ending March 31, 2015, the bank had 154 branches from 94 in April 2013.

DCB Bank’s initiatives are focused on improving customer experience, reducing the transaction time and without any errors.

The internet channel has been leveraged in many innovative ways. One is the Zippi Online Fixed Deposit. It happens to be the most convenient online fixed deposit product anywhere. You do not have to be an existing DCB Bank customer, you do not have to open a savings account to start a new FD and you do not even need to visit the DCB Bank branch.

Q: What was the objective behind attracting other bank’s customers for FD accounts?

A: Retail deposits (Retail CASA and retail term deposits) continued to provide a stable resource base to the bank. Retail deposits were at 81% of total deposits as on June 30, 2015.

Deposits are the source of funds for any bank. From Dhanbad to Rothak and far away Tezpur, new to bank customers have opened Zippi account.

Customers are confident in dealing with online banking and they are completely at ease interacting with a bank with no branch presence in their city. This is the online or e-commerce effect.

The response to Zippi Online Fixed Deposit in Punjab has come from cities such as Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali and Patiala among others.

Q: How is online banking changing the ways banks work?

A: Ours is a time poor society and online banking is the answer to our banking needs. Online banking has magnified reach of the banks to the nook and corner of India. Banking queries are now more or less solved 24x7.

Account statements are online, requests are taken online. Fund transfer and payments have been made much simpler. Domestic Money Transfer (DMT) services have done yeoman service to the migrant worker, labourer and skilled artisan population.

However, security of online transactions is of much bigger concern now. SMS alerts and emails for all banking transaction have made accounts more secure. One Time Passwords known to us as OTP have become ubiquitous. However, online banking convenience also calls for caution and responsibility.

Q: How is the industry attracting net-savvy customers?

A: Customers need simplicity and convenience. Nobody likes jargon, nobody wants to waste time travelling and our society is time poor. Think about it, time poor runs across strata and economic groups. Customers appreciate instant banking. Customers regularly use SMS to get their account balance and order cheque book.

Netbanking has evolved to apps. So feature phones and smartphones have morphed into a virtual bank channel always available to the customer.

Q: How is consumer behaviour reacting to online products?

A: The ‘experimenters’ stage in the evolution of online products is long over in India. India as a society has also leapfrogged a generation faster to the internet and mobile revolution than the West.

E-commerce is not a metro city, English language phenomenon. Tier 2 and all the way to Tier 6 locations are also tuning in to mobile and e-commerce.

This also has to do with the demographic change in India. The youth segment constitutes a large share of the total population and that too is driving the surge to online consumption of entertainment, socialising and commerce.