intrabank vis - a - vis inter - bank since the latter is regulated by the central bank. such happenings defy all logic and needs to be debated in forums like the iba. the banks often counter this concern raised by the central bank by arguing that such charges should be best left to the market. as a person who has seen both sides, i am of the view that while the central bank need not intervene in the pricing of various payment products, it should not hesitate to step in if it finds a large section of the customers that cannot afford or are shying away from such products on account of arbitrary fixing of charges linked to the value of the transactions in a technology - driven scenario. rationalisation of service charges for paper and electronic bis central bankers ’ speeches products by the reserve bank was an attempt in this direction. acquiring space in the payment systems arena is a huge opportunity for bank and non - bank entities if adopted with a level playing attitude where the increasing number of customers coming into its fold is the game changer for pricing strategy. but above all, no attempt would be considered fruitful without the benefits percolating to the aam aadmi. 19. having stated the above, i must admit that one reason for costing of electronic products at a higher band in comparison with the traditional products has been the banks ’ attempt to part - recover the cost of deployment of technology. the process of introducing innovative products in india has been costly for the banks due to the unsystematic developments during the initial stage of technology deployment by the banking industry. in a country of our size, co - operative efforts and sharing of infrastructure while deploying technology is a lost opportunity story. customer service – dispute resolution and frauds dispute resolution 20. the customer dispute resolution has to be given a greater attention in the promotion of electronic payment products. appropriate processes have to be implemented for speedy resolution of such complaints. the time taken for resolution of such disputes should be reasonable. in an electronic payment scenario, a time period of 45 to 50 days for dispute resolution cannot be accepted as normal. our intervention in the resolution of disputes related to failed atm transactions was necessitated by this unreasonable time period. outlier issues cannot be the bottlenecks or benchmarks for dispute resolution process. by this logic, we feel that banks can bring down the 12 day period currently prescribed by rbi for failed atm transactions by implementing systems for automatic reversals. the outlier issues like part cash disbursal have to

mr. ferguson speaks on the future of the financial services sector remarks by mr. roger w. ferguson, jr., a member of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, at the college of management of the university of massachusetts in boston, massachusetts on 27 / 10 / 98. some observations on the future of the financial services sector and related public policy issues let me first thank you for your invitation to speak today at this very topical conference. the future of the financial services sector holds great interest for industry participants as well as bank regulators, given the remarkable changes affecting the industry. developments in this sector will affect all of us. we are all acutely aware of the trend toward the blurring of lines that have separated the various parts of the financial sector, particularly commercial banking, investment banking, and insurance. most recently, we are faced with the prospect of the formation of huge financial conglomerates, composed of amalgams of firms that have previously operated within the roughly defined boundaries of their respective industries. in addition, we have witnessed a substantial degree of consolidation through mergers in the commercial banking and other industries. i will begin my remarks today by discussing historical experience with conglomeration in the us, and the underlying conditions necessary for conglomeration to be a successful business strategy. i will then offer some thoughts regarding what the financial services sector may look like in the future. finally, i will address some of the issues that the federal reserve as a supervisor and regulator will need to consider. there are several conclusions that i would like to highlight. the first is that the movement to financial conglomerate may prove to be transitory. second, basic financial and risk management skills will likely remain the most important determinant of a company ’ s viability and success. third, even in a world of financial conglomerates there will be room for smaller, and more nimble, participants. finally, the supervisory and regulatory structure will need to evolve to meet these new challenges, but regulatory authorities should remain vigilant to carry out our duties, particularly in enforcing the antitrust laws. ii. will financial service conglomerates be successful? the historical context of conglomeration the concept of the financial conglomerate is receiving a great deal of attention at this time because of the diminishing distinctions across financial industries. however, the success of such conglomerates is certainly not guaranteed, based on historical experience. for an illustration, one need only look back to the conglomerate merger movement in the industrial sector during the 1960s