A study on branchless banking in India

As new developments continue to expand the traditional boundaries of banking, the interface between banks and customers, have also changed drastically from being operations-centric to servicing clients. The shift during this period has been from branch to Branchless such as ATM, Internet and mobile. Consumers and businesses are looking to their financial institution for user-friendly services; users expect instant access to account information and a full range of self-service banking tasks. Mobility and customer convenience seen as keys to growth, banks are busy exploring new technologies. Branchless banking is a modern mechanism to facilitate financial services in developing regions. There is a considerable growth taken place in branchless banking services in India, despite this, branches are unlikely to die, despite ATMs, laptops and smart phones becoming primary platforms for daily banking. Branches will continue even after the new modes spread to rural areas. This paper studies the Branchless banking, its performance, cost structures and issues and challenges on selected parameters.