State Bank of India (SBI) has launched ‘YONO Branches’ in three cities ― Navi Mumbai, Indore and Gurugram ― as part of a pilot. These branches give the bank’s digital banking app ‘YONO’ a brick-and-mortar presence.

The YONO branches, which were launched on the eve of the 65th anniversary of SBI’s Foundation Day, will focus on driving adoption of digital banking among its customers, India’s largest bank said in a statement.

SBI said it has re-imagined its traditional branch design to create a ‘Digital-first’ operating model. The bank is planning to scale up YONO branches across the country in the next five years.

At the YONO branch’s self-service zone, customers can deposit cheques into smart cheque deposit kiosks, withdraw cash, deposit cash, and print passbooks 24x7, without depending on branch staff.

“Self-assist kiosks with touchscreen consoles will allow customers to use YONO to avail of a broad range of services, such as booking an FD (fixed deposit) or creating an account, all on their own.

“In availing services digitally, customers will receive personalised assistance from dedicated YONO Hosts for a comfortable banking experience,” the bank said.

As per the statement, a large video wall will play informational content on YONO and the bank’s other digital banking products and services.

“Dedicated meeting pods will facilitate conversation between customers and branch staff around loans, credit cards, insurance, mutual funds, and more, at the end of which these can be availed of digitally.

“All services will be simplified, paperless and real-time, as much as possible,” the statement said.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI, said, “We are glad to witness YONO SBI venturing into the brick-and-mortar model…We believe the YONO Branch will enable and empower customers to adopt digital banking to enjoy all banking services with ease.”

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