Urban cooperative banks (UCB) in Telangana have come in for praise from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for their adoption of Saksham, the mission launched to ensure urban cooperative banks and the people who lead them are equipped with the demands of present day banking.

RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan. J said he was particularly pleased with the response from Telangana to the Saksham Mission. All the 48 UCBs in the State have already been represented in at least one programme under the Mission. He was speaking about the significant change in demands from customers who are expecting banking services to be available conveniently, quickly and increasingly through digital channels.

Customers expect to transfer funds, make payments, access their accounts and avail banking services with the same ease and reliability that they experience elsewhere in the financial system. Meeting these expectations increasingly requires UCBs to strengthen their technology and digital capabilities. The extent may vary across banks, depending on their size, business model and the services they are permitted to offer.

Even smaller UCBs today depend substantially on technology — whether for their Core Banking Solution, payments or other critical operations — and often on outside service providers to support them. “The coverage of the identified target groups in Telangana will cross one third,” he said.