In an article authored by you in FE said, “The four cornerstones of a truly contactless world would be the integration of the latest innovations, consistent application uptime, the capacity to manage huge transaction volumes, and end-to-end security,” Please elaborate on how have you applied this at AU SFB?
We at AU strongly believe in the transformative power of IT. We have incorporated the principles from the four cornerstones into our IT strategy and have been working tirelessly to create a future ready tech savvy bank. Through our Digital initiatives, we are creating tech-enabled products both for our Lending as well as Deposit franchise. Under our Digitization initiatives we are focused on automation of internal processes for enhanced efficiency; by making extensive investments in our infrastructure, we are building capacity to handle the ever-increasing digital transactions with minimum downtime. We have robust Security and Risk processes to ensure our customers can bank without worrying about the safety of their money.
We have recently launched our video banking services through which we have moved a step further in our journey towards a truly contactless banking experience. It is a prime example of the principles that I mentioned- Video Banking enables customers to execute all banking transactions securely enabled through CKYC, except cash deposit and withdrawal, from the comfort of their home using the ubiquitous internet facilities enabled on their smartphones and laptops. They can schedule a call as per their availability without having to step in a branch, all enabled by our state of art infrastructure and our highly trained agents.
How do you see the super app AU 0101 in the light of the four cornerstones you have mentioned in question number 1? In terms of ” integration of the latest innovations, consistent application uptime, the capacity to manage huge transaction volumes, and end-to-end security”
With AU’s 0101 super app, we have created a 24*7 banking platform that is up- to-date with the latest in both technology and banking. 0101 is not just a banking app but a lifestyle app with services ranging from flight/cab bookings to recharges, bill payments and so much more to provide an immersive customer experience. It is a digital customer interaction platform where customers can meet most of their daily banking needs.
We are constantly building capabilities through partnerships with the best in business, to be on top of all fin-tech innovations. By investing in our data and analytics we are providing customers with a truly personalized experience. We have built 0101’s capacity to cater to not just the current needs but to be able to handle the incremental number of transactions in the coming years. With current capacity we are prepared to handle the transaction volumes for the next 2 to 3 years to come and constantly upgrade ourselves.
One of the biggest strengths of our superapp is that it is end-to end secure. There are no security gaps and all digital transactions on 0101 are completely safe. Our aim at the end of the day is to empower customers to securely make banking transactions at any time of the day, powered by the latest technology.
AU 0101 – How has been the journey so far… in terms of numbers, customer acquisitions?
The 0101 journey has been truly humbling with a steep increment in both new customer acquisition through the app, increased downloads by existing customers and an overall enhancement in the daily active users and the number of transactions.
To give you an idea of the scale of what we are doing, we are now processing almost 70 percent of the service requests received by the bank through 0101 app on a monthly basis. 90 percent of non-cash debit transactions now happen over the 0101 app. We are also seeing a greater adoption of the 0101 app with 60k new registrations so far this month alone. On an average more than 3.5lakh unique customers access the app per month for various transactions which is increasing with each passing month.
Is the super app hosted on a cloud platform? Please discuss in detail.
Currently 0101 is on premise but within 2-3 years we would migrate most of our apps on cloud including the 0101 app. It is a part of our digital aspiration on which we are actively working.
What are the future plans for AU 0101?
It’s not for nothing that we are calling this the Super app. We have and are continuing to hire talents from reputed colleges as well as get industry stalwarts onboard to create a strong IT backbone for the bank that is rich in both experience and ideas.
We aim to make 0101 one stop solution for our customers and for this we are aiming to bring increasingly more services on the platform that includes pre-approved offers, credit cards and BNPL, Insurance products, wealth products and loan products to name a few, making it the primary channel for both engagement and servicing. We are also building compelling propositions for merchants.