There is a sharp rise in adoption of hybrid banking

Digital transformation came to the rescue at such an unprecedented time. Banking, being one of the core sectors for socio-economic development, expedited adoption of digital technologies on priority as the lockdown hit. The industry has witnessed the adoption of hybrid banking, with the combination of physical with digital. As consumers increasingly engage with their bank remotely, and circumstances such as the pandemic, as well as new digitally-focused strategies continue to play out, there are ongoing questions and serious challenges for banks in defining new models and transitioning to digital offerings.

There will always be different customer preferences and needs for banks to meet. Added to this the variation in complexity of banking activities, and suddenly banks need a considered and highly nuanced approach at the ready.

About 65% of India’s 1.39 billion people live in rural areas and about 35% in urban areas. Despite the low penetration of digital payments in rural India, the country leads the world’s real-time payments market, followed by China and South Korea. Many customers will use self-serve digital channels most of the time and as much as they can; others turn first to channels where they can get human help. At the same time, most of the banks are transforming to a hybrid model but the greatest challenge remains how to replicate the human interaction when it comes to.

Banks and Financial Institutes take advantage of the convenience of digital banking while leveraging the benefits of in-person experiences that digital self-service channels cannot provide, will succeed. With the new hybrid banking model, the key is to find the right balance between human-mediated and digital experiences. Though there has been an unprecedented growth in digital payments, the potential is still huge. Cash continues to dominate Indian markets. There is a need to accelerate the adoption of digital payments across the country.