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Karur Vysya Bank is in the process of an image makeover. The bank, which celebrated its centenary in July last, is gearing up on the technology front to cater to the GenNext segment.
Announcing the launch of three technology services — FASTag, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System) — here today, K Venkataraman, CEO of the bank, said the next five to seven years could be an interesting phase in KVB’s growth story.
Change of path Recapitulating KVB’s 100 years of existence, Venkataraman conceded that the bank grew very slowly in the initial years, confining its presence within Tamil Nadu and some parts of Andhra Pradesh.
“In 2009, we embarked on the Golden Vision and chose the path of fast growth. We went in for an organisational restructure, but the growth path was not easy.
“We went through a stage of consolidation with the centenary year and took the path of steady growth. We managed to achieve qualitative targets, but not finance targets.
“Having come this far, we have started to invest heavily on the technology front, pumping in close to ₹80 crore each year, over the last two to three years.”
FASTag service Claiming that KVB is the only bank among its peers permitted to offer technology services, such as FASTag, UPI and BBPS, he said: “The FASTag service has been launched in association with Indian Highways Management Company.
“The preloaded tags that are affixed on vehicles would help them move on without too much of a wait at toll plazas across the country.
“While the tag can be topped up as and when required, KVB is also working on an app for reloading of the tag, possibly as a prelude for what’s to come. We developed the e-tag almost three years back, but it has started to gain momentum only now.”
Demonetisation effect The bank has been leveraging on technology and focussing on customer convenience. And demonetisation has helped strengthen the bank’s technology ecosystem.
“Point-of-sale transactions (post-demonetisation) jumped four times, IMPS (immediate payment service) five times and internet banking, three times. Earlier, it was difficult to on-board customers,” he said. From 10,700 PoS machines at end-October 2016, the number has more than doubled to 21,000 by end-February 2017.
“We are security obsessed, but firmly believe that technology is the future of banking,” he added
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