JOIN USAxis Bank fetes its M-banking success
Every month, 80,000 customers of Axis Bank — one of the largest private sector banks in India — are registering for mobile banking, thus taking banking to the next level.
With customers preferring to do transactions anywhere and at any time, banks are now focusing on this segment to cater to customer requirements. Axis Bank Group Executive and Head (Retail Banking) Rajiv Anand says the bank alone has 18 lakh customers using its mobile banking service.
“While we have 30 lakh customers using internet banking, which was started a decade ago, we have 18 lakh mobile banking customers in just two years. Using the mobile phone one can open the locker facility, open FD and demat accounts, and do mobile recharge, among others,” says Rajiv.
Rajiv said that with smartphones becoming cheaper and coming with more added features, customers want to do transactions anytime and anywhere, and the bank’s focus is to make banking simpler.
In the last financial year, Rs 12,000 crore worth of transactions were done on the mobile phone. “This 12,000 crore has grown 3X over the previous FY. And the growth will continue in future,” says Rajiv.
Young user base
When asked about the age group of people using mobile banking, the retail banking head said they are drawing users from metros and semi-urban areas. “In terms of age group, they are between 20 and 45 years,” he said.
A six-digit mPIN number is provided to registered customers. “If the customer changes the mobile instrument, he/she has to re-register on the new phone,” he said.
The bank constantly upgrades its features. While each bank adds its own features, the opportunity is very big in the long run. “Because of the fact that transactions are simpler, the number of transactions on mobile phones have been increasing. This growth will continue,” he said.
But will mobile banking and the increased focus on technology reduce the manpower requirement? Rajiv replied, “‘No. With the change in technology, the way you do banking also changes. Branches will continue to be important. However, the kind of things that we do in a branch will change. Customers will visit branches not for day-to-day services, but for complicated transactions like housing loan, feedback on where to invest money, and so on,” he says.
DH News Service