New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) As many as 9 Indian banks have been recognised as ‘Digital Champions’ among 40 banks that received the title globally, according to the Deloitte Global Digital Banking Maturity (DBM) survey released on Tuesday.
Since 2022, India’s DBM Index has grown from 43% to 59%, witnessing a 16-percentage-point increase. Indian banks have observed the most notable gains in day-to-day banking (+9.8 percentage points) and expanding relationships (+3.4 percentage points).
This change reflects the increasing digital maturity of Indian banks, showcasing their focus on customised advisory services, rapid technological advancements, AI integration, and beyond-banking offerings, the survey states.
In its second year of participation, India has already established itself as a rising force among global powerhouses, including the US, China, Brazil, and the European Union. This year’s DBM survey extends its reach to 349 banks, spanning 44 key markets across six continents, the survey points out.
The Global DBM study, conducted biennially, assesses participants based on their retail banking maturity across three main channels: public websites, internet banking and mobile banking, which includes application messenger service-based banking.
Using a mystery shopping methodology, the banks’ features were evaluated across six customer journey steps: information gathering, account opening, customer onboarding, day-to-day banking, expanding relationships, and end-of-relationship.
The survey further highlights that Indian Digital Champions have outperformed their global peers across most journey steps, with India’s overall DBM Index exceeding the global average index by 20 pp. Indian Digital Champion banks scored significantly higher in information gathering, customer onboarding, day-to-day banking and overall user experience.
However, there is room for further improvement, especially across day-to-day banking and expanding relationships, focusing on areas such as personal finance management, conversational solutions for hyper-personalised support and product cross-selling, according to the report.
Himanish Chaudhuri, Partner and Financial Services Industry Leader, Deloitte India, said: “As we unveil the sixth edition of the Digital Banking Maturity report, we are proud to share that Indian Banks have made significant progress across digital banking services, outpacing the global average on most fronts.”
“This remarkable trajectory underscores India’s growing capability to shape the future of digital banking. With regulatory support, the rise of GenAI, industry convergence and a sharper focus on fraud prevention, Indian banks are well-positioned to support the country’s vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’,” he added.
The Indian banking sector’s digital transformation is driven by a favourable regulatory environment, expanding digital public infrastructure, increased investment and spending capacity and enhanced internet connectivity and mobile penetration.
However, this progress is accompanied by challenges, including macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, rising deposit costs, and concerns over credit quality, the report states.
While taking a deep dive into day-to-day banking and the expanding relationships journey, where Indian banks observed the most notable gains, the survey report highlights significant progress within the key components of these areas.
In day-to-day banking, Transfers & Payments have seen a 2.4 percentage point increase since 2022, surpassing the global average of one percentage point. Personal Finance Management improved by 1.9 percentage points, compared with a 0.1 percentage point global rise. At the same time, Account and product management services recorded a two percentage point increase, surpassing the one percentage point global benchmark. On the other hand, Card Management services showed a notable two percentage point rise, driven by seamless services and a secure banking experience, compared with a three percentage point global average rise.
In expanding their relationships with banking services, Indian banks achieved a one percentage point increase in beyond-banking offerings, outperforming the global average rise of 0.1 percentage points. However, the ecosystem and account aggregation services, a key area for further focus, registered a modest 0.5 pp rise, the report added.
–IANS
