Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Anand Sinha has said that mobile banking technology is the hottest area of development at the moment and is expected to complement and to an extent replace the credit/debit card system in future.
The technology is particularly relevant in the context of 50 per cent of the population remaining excluded from the financial sector while mobile phones have become an easily available communication tool, he said.
He was speaking at the IDRBT Banking Technology Awards 2010-11 ceremony on Thursday at the Hyderabad-based Institute for Research and Development in Banking Technology (IDRBT), a technology research organisation established by the RBI.
Sinha, who is also chairman of IDRBT, said, “While the mobile technology has the potential to overcome issues relating to cost, infrastructure and resources, it still faces issues like dependence on service providers, network availability and security.”
The use of computers in banking has so far been in transaction processing, data storage and service delivery. However, for implementing mobile technology, a deeper understanding of management at front-end and back-ends is needed to ensure confidence and convenience.
Ten banks, big and small, were selected for the awards in various categories. Bank of India won the award for technologies for financial inclusion, while State Bank of India got two awards for mobile banking and electronic payment systems.
The jury headed by ICICI Bank chairman KV Kamath selected banks from big and small categories under each category. Under the small banks group, Karur Vysya Bank got the recognition for mobile banking, while Lakshmi Vilas Bank won it for electronic payment systems.
Under the IT implementation and management category, HDFC Bank (big) and South Indian Bank (small) got the awards, while Punjab National Bank (big) and Federal Bank (small) were selected for IT for internal effectiveness. In managing IT risk, ICICI Bank (big) and Karnataka Bank (small) were selected, an IDRBT release said.
