PSBs Must Marry Innovation With Trust

Algorithms can't replace empathy, codes can't replicate human understanding: SBI's Setty

- HARSH KUMAR

Public sector banks (PSBs) must evolve rapidly to meet the fast-changing customer expectation, a challenge which is much bigger than the competition coming from fintechs, State Bank of India's chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty said on Tuesday.

"The transition in customer expectations has been extraordinary, from simply being happy to get a bank account, to expecting account opening in three days, then four hours, and now within 20 minutes," Setty noted.

"Banks, as complex organisations, must constantly evolve their service models to stay relevant," he said at the AIMA's (All India Management Association) 52nd National Management Convention in New Delhi.

But even amid accelerating digitalisation, he stressed, banking remains a people business.