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Jammu Tawi: Indian Banks Association (IBA) hosted their 18th Annual Banking Technology Conference, Expo and Awards on
the theme of “Future of Digital & Analytics in Banking”. The conference was presided over by Chief Guest Ajay Kumar
Choudhary (Executive Director, RBI), Atul Kumar Goel (Chairman, IBA, and MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank), Sunil Mehta
(Chief Executive, IBA), and Gopal Murli Bhagat (Dy. Chief Executive, IBA), in the presence of senior dignitaries and officials
from public and private sector banks, fintech and technology experts, panelists, knowledge partners, and media. Welcoming the
participants in his inaugural address, Sunil Mehta, Chief Executive, Indian Banks Association, said: “Banking Technology has
evolved during the course of the year. There has been a traditional shift from brick-and-mortar to digital banking. It would not be
a surprise to see the lending business move towards the digital sphere in the next three-four years. We thank the regulators
and the government towards our sector with initiatives such as RBI Innovation Hub, Sandbox, UPI, among others, that have
helped both the bankers and customers in reaching cost-effective solutions for financial services.” Emphasizing on the three
pillars of banking, Atul Kumar Goel, Chairman, Indian Banks Association, and MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank, said: “The
spectrum of banking industry is massive and with the integration of technology, it is imperative we adopt the new digital banking
culture in this multi-functional collaborative environment. Digitalization has not only helped increase operational efficiency but
has also helped increase customer delight. Going forward, we need to focus on innovation in technology and co-create net
solutions through simplification and integration in the banking sphere. We also need to reskill and upskill employees, and bring
innovative HR policies to retain talent in our industry.” Chief Guest Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Executive Director, RBI, in his
keynote address said: “The best way to predict the future is to create it. As we move towards AI, ML, and cloud computing, the
future of digitalization and digitization with analytics is going to be phenomenal. The definition of banking is changing as it is
happening in silos across products and services. We need to foster innovation through upskilling our skills in this conducive
environment and industry participants should focus on collaboration for enhanced customer experience. The adoption of new-
age technology – REGTECH – will immensely help financial institutions with regulatory governance and risk management.
Having said that, prime importance to customer redressal should also be given and protect customers against monetary loss
through cyber incidents. Sustainability and inclusion are core factors for the growth of a nation and innovative products from new
fintech players act as a bridge to reach out to the financially excluded. In fact, the advent of fintech players and smartphones has
led to immense growth in customer acquisition. It is important that core banking is integrated with technology and adequate
safeguards are implemented when outsourcing so that the banking industry is not at risk. RBI emphasizes on digitalization and is
looking at ways towards faster and cost-effective tools for industry to adopt.” Thanking the participants and giving an overview
of the panel discussions, Gopal Murli Bhagat, Dy. Chief Executive, Indian Banks Association said: “We are in an advanced
stage of banking when compared to other developed countries.”
