Digital Next @ Hdfc Bank

Munish Mittal, CIO & Group Head-IT, HDFC Bank, shares details of the digital strategies adopted by the bank in an exclusive interaction:

- Amol Dethe

HDFC Bank has seen transactions through digital channels rise from around 50% of the total four years ago to as much as 84% of the total as of today and against average of 5 million customers adopting the digital then, there are today average of over 20 million customers engaging digitally with the bank.

Explaining this transformation, Munish Mittal, CIO & Group Head-IT of the bank, says: “About 4 years ago, we obviously had a comprehensive internet banking. Then came ‘chutki mein loan’, and Mobile App gradually became the preferred ‘on-the-go banking’ vehicle with ‘bank aap ki muthi mein’. The journey continued with DAP, our digital application platform for loan and card products, followed by UPI, IMPS and digital payments. All these formats have impacted our digital transaction processes and transactions through these channels have risen manifold,” says he, adding: “Obviously, this has led to a sharp reduction in the costs of transactions and thereby increased efficiency and productivity, which in turn has improved the bottom line. A branch transaction today costs from 100 to 500 depending on the ‘type of transaction’. Using DAP and the Smart Account Opening App, opening an account can be just a fraction of this cost and mind you there is minimal manual intervention like KYC check.”

DIGITAL FROM THE START

He maintains that HDFC Bank has been a digital bank right from the start. “We were the first in the country to introduce centralized core banking, centralized ATM switch, debit cards and if you fast forward, we are the largest issuer of credit cards. In the last 5 years, we have made significant progress in attempts to make payments and banking more digital,” says he.

He cites the example of the bank’s latest flagship product in the digital domain