Veershaiv Bank’s e-services transactions have doubled
The Kolhapur-based UCB has appointed a consultant to promote its brand and services on social media:
While digital channels have been crucial for banks, especially those in the private and public sector, the mid and small sized cooperative banks have initially been slow in adopting technology in general and digital in particular. Suryakant Patil, ex-President and Director, the Shri Veers ha iv Cooperative Bank, why such a hesitation has happened: “The larger cooperative banks like Saraswat, Cosmos, SVC and TJSB were swift to follow and adopt to changing needs of the customer driven era, it is only now that the cooperative banking sector as a whole has woken up to the advantages and have started adopting them. However, the delay has led to a shrinking of the stake of cooperatives in banking below 4%.”
APP, ECOM, POS, IMPS, UPI
With RBI taking the lead in directing the cooperative banks to transform or perish, most banks have adopted CBS but owing to earnings and cost restrictions, most of them have not been able to avail products and services from well-known technology providers. Patil says his bank, along with several alert cooperative banks, realized the disadvantages in not adopting technology and digitization and made amends. “On our part, we shifted from the earlier DOS based system to Windows in 2012, with Infrasoft providing the solutions. Later, with the help of technology company Finacus, we have added multiple digital services over a period of time like eCom, ATMs, PoS, IMPS and UPI, along with a user friendly yet sturdy mobile app Veershaiv Bank App,” says Patil.
ATM SHARING ARRANGEMENT
As a part of offering electronic banking services to its customers, the bank has entered into an ATM sharing arrangement with NPCI-NFS for RuPay debit cum ATM cards. The NFS network has 83 plus member banks as well as 208 sub member banks with more than 182,000 ATMs across India for 24x7 ATM service.
Suryakant Patil says: “We are sub member of HDFC Bank and offers RTGS and NEFT services to our customers. Facilities on ATM and shared ATM network include balance inquiry, pin change, cash withdrawal and mini statement.”
RuPay card offers secure, easy and convenient way to do transaction on ATMs and PoS anywhere in India and comes with daily transaction limit of `20,000 for saving account and `350,000 for current account at ATM and PoS. Patil adds: “Our customers have been increasingly using their RuPay debit cards to shop, dine, pay bills across various merchant establishments.”
ATM, POS TRANSACTIONS
Covid has forced many customers to make extensive use of digital services. The bank’s e-services usage transactions have nearly doubled. Its 16 ATMs are providing services to triple the number of customers of that of local branches of PSU and private banks, making the investment productive financially. The quantum of PoS transactions has also doubled.
ATM ON WHEELS
As covid restricted people’s movement and travel, the bank took the initiative of launching ATM on Wheels. Says Patil: “We were the first local bank to do this. We have taken banking to our customers’ doorsteps. Our mobile van, with pre-announced destinations and schedule, reaches our customers and this has been on for the last many months. This helped us in building an image for the bank and getting new customers.”
ONLINE AGM
The 79th annual general meeting of the bank was uniquely conducted online because of the restraints on people in traveling. As per the directives of the Central Registrar, the bank was one of the early ones to adopt to online AGM. Patil says the AGM was held in November 2020 through video conferencing and using audio-visual gadgets. There were 3000 registrations and over 1000 participants, including members and customers. “This was the first of its kind event in the history of the bank,” says Patil.
REDESIGNING WEBSITE
The bank engaged Bengaluru-based Digital Age Strategies to do an IT system audit, which has provided important guidance in laying a roadmap for taking the bank on a road to progress using digitization.
“With plans to provide browser-based usage well within this financial year, we are in the process of redesigning our website to make it interactive. We have also engaged a consultant to promote our brand and services on social media,” says Patil.
He concludes stating: “We are now among the 5 big cooperative banks in Kolhapur district and we are poised to launch a wide range of technology services.”