PSU Banks are adapting to new digital means owing EASE reforms

Public Sector Banks are adapting to new digital means and increasing their digital presence to be up to date with the new generation.

Public sector banks are quickly embracing digital technologies, clearing digital lending of 83,091 crores in the fiscal year ending in March 2022. As part of the EASE 4.0 reforms, the state-owned banks were tasked with concentrating on digital lending, co-lending with non-banking businesses, farm finance, and technical resilience for 24×7 banking.

Public sector banks (PSBs) are financial institutions where the government has a majority stake in the shares. The financial standards for these institutions are regulated by the government. Because public sector banks are owned by the government, the majority of depositors think that their money is safer there.

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Currently, the EASE program along with Indian Banks Association(IBA) has stressed the need for data analytics, automation and digitization. The EASE programme, introduced in 2018, focuses on new tech streamlined and collaborative banking, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recognised top-performing institutions on several metrics, according to a release from the IBA.

For the reforms implemented in all Public Sector Banks, in relation to the EASE Agenda 4.0, Bank of Baroda won first place, followed by State Bank of India and Canara Bank in that order. Among all PSBs, Indian Bank emerged as the “Top Improver.” As part of the EASE reforms, banks completed 6,597 crores in co-lending through collaborations with NBFCs during FY’22. 9.4 crore clients were added to mobile banking systems, and 79% of all financial transactions were done using mobile and internet banking platforms.

In this aspect, the Minister of Finance unveiled the fifth edition of the EASE program which is known as the EASENext  Program which would be furthering the digital footprint and introducing the three-year Strategic Program.