Finance Minister calls for better connect between banks, customers

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman directed public sector banks to rekindle the "personal touch" while dealing with customers at branch level. Speaking at an event by Indian Bank Association (IBA) to launch EASE 3.0, Sitharaman said the PSU banks should improve branch-level connect with their clientele.

The Finance Minister said that staff at bank branches should speak local languages. She added that bank branches in hinterland suffer as employees deputed there cannot speak the customers' mother tongue. She stated that branch-level connect with customers is important for credit dissemination.

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She further said that banks should not blindly follow rating agency data on customers. She added that the government intends to employ data analytics in the Indian banking sector.

Sitharaman was miffed about how many branch-level officers at state-run banks do not know public welfare schemes well enough. She suggested that IBA should sensitise bank branches about government schemes.

EASE is a set of banking reforms to incorporate technological aids for ensuring better banking experience, wider financial inclusion and easier credit distribution.

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