Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday asked banks to lend to the infrastructure sector even more pro-actively and cater to the capital needs of MSMEs. She also urged them to bring unbanked population under the ambit of formal banking channels, and help increase insurance penetration.
Speaking at an event here to mark the 90th Foundation Day of state-run Bank of Maharashtra (BoM), the minister also noted that technology is changing the banking landscape as it provides a secure and easy-to-navigate digital banking experience to all customers. She also cautioned against any compromise on digital security, and called for robust and resilient systems to avoid incidences like hacking of the systems.
The minister advised banks to adopt technologies, such as big data analytics, that would enable banks to offer customized products, and target groups and predict where the businesses are undergoing stress rather than wait for things to collapse. Business should not fail because banks did not hand-hold them, she said.
Sitharaman said the rising use of UPI in driving digital payments, and noted that 45% of all real-time digital payments globally take place in India.
She said there was still a need to expand the UPI space, “and make it deeper.” The digital footprints are now available and the Indian banking system’s potential rests on this particular feature of UPI, she said.
The finance minister lauded Bank of Maharashtra’s performance, saying the pubic sector bank fared above the expected levels in the last few years. The FM unveiled BoM’s Vision for Bank@100 and its new cash-flow based lending product for small businesses.