‘Extreme customer convenience-focused approach’ redefining banking business, says SBI’s new chairman

Fintech startups are reshaping how large banks conduct business, prompting traditional financial institutions to adapt their offerings to the evolving fintech landscape, according to C S Setty, the newly appointed chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI).

“The good thing about fintechs is that they are reshaping the way we do business. An extreme customer convenience-focused approach is something which made the conventional players reimagine the customer journey. Yono itself is an example. I keep saying that we are the largest fintech company and we align our business looking at the fintech environment,” Setty said on Friday at the Global Fintech Fest held in Mumbai.

Setty added that SBI is actively seeking deeper integrations with fintech companies.


“Some of the services which banks are providing on their own, we may use their (fintech’s) services. We have already started using several offerings like software-as-a-service (SaaS).”

SBI has been developing a new version of its mobile application, Yono. Setty said that the pilot launch of this new platform, named Yono 2.0 is planned for November 2024 within a closed user group.

Setty assumed the role of SBI chairman for a three-year term on Wednesday.

Deposit challenges

Addressing the ongoing competition for deposits among banks, Setty acknowledged that this trend is likely to persist.

“With the change in asset allocation among customers, some amount of investment surplus is going to other asset classes. Everybody (banks) is looking at how to get more value out of the existing customers and attract new customers by offering better quality services. Essentially, there would be some tweaking in the interest rates… The competition for deposits is likely to continue for some time,” he said.

Earlier this month, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das urged banks to introduce more innovative products to attract deposits amidst these challenges.