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(Pi Bureau)
Virendra Singh Rawat
Business Writer
New age private lender HDFC Bank is applying evolving technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) to push the boundaries of digital banking for innovative customer services.
The Bank has already introduced concepts like EVA (electronic virtual assistant), IRA (Intelligent Robotic Assistant) and OnChat in banking processes, based on AI and machine learning.
“The focus is gradually shifting from financial inclusion towards digital inclusion, since most of the banking services are being offered online. In this context, AI would allow convergence of various technologies on a single platform and act as a leveller for both the banked and unbanked,” HDFC Bank (digital banking) country head Nitin Chugh said here.
He, however, noted digital inclusion was more behavioural in nature than merely providing access to consumer services like banking. “About 80 percent of our customers were availing of banking services online till March 2017.”
HDFC Bank has forged ties with some top educational institutions to support fintech start-ups and onboard some of these technologies in the Bank through initiatives like Industry Academia and Digital Innovation Summit.
Under Industry Academia, the HDFC Bank has engaged with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, IIT Roorkee, NIT Kurukshetra, BITS group of institutes, SP Jain and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad to advise and mentor start-ups.
Churgh said adding the Bank was supporting new and evolving concepts such as AI, robotics, block chain, rural fintech and digital market analytics. The Bank has launched several digital banking platforms viz. missed call banking, social media and conversation banking to offer seamless banking experience to the tech savvy customers of today.
Earlier, HDFC Bank had also launched its start-up support hub SmartUp Zone in Lucknow for offering financing options to start-ups and facilitating handholding by experts. It planned to launch similar hubs in Noida and Kanpur also.
