for consumer banking and financial services, but has enhanced its capacity for continued and inclusive growth. banks and financial institutions rely on gathering, processing, analyzing information in order to improve its service and meet the expectations of customers. banks have been quick to realize and adopt technology in a big way. the visible benefits of it in day - to - day banking in india are quite well known. the “ anywhere banking ” through core banking systems, “ anytime banking ” through new, 24 / 7 / 365 delivery channels such as automated teller machines ( atms ), and net and mobile banking, etc. are also increasingly becoming an integral part of the services provided by the ucbs. in addition, it has enabled the efficient, accurate and timely management of the increased transaction volume that comes with a larger customer base. another important aspect with regard to technology implementation for internal purpose in ucbs is the management information system ( mis ). the mis reports so generated help the top management as an effective risk management and a strategic decision making tool. use of it reduces the costs of financial transactions, improves the allocation of financial resources, and increases the competitiveness and efficiency of financial institutions. most importantly, it enables to take any product or service to the general masses. the challenge now lies in taking greater advantage of new technologies and information - based systems and expanding the coverage of the indian banking and financial system to under - served markets in rural and semi - urban areas. the use of smart card technology, mobile atms, coverage of post offices under electronic payments networks in remote areas could play significant role in providing financial services to unbanked and underbanked people. today, we all should understand that poor people are bankable and there is tremendous potential for the business growth of financial institutions by providing banking services to them. what we need right now is the appropriate business delivery model which will facilitate taking the banking services to the doorsteps of the people at a lesser cost. the technology based solution would go a long way for achieving inclusive growth in india. india is experiencing an explosion in the use of mobile communication technology. mobile phone users now belong to all strata of society, spread across metropolitan, urban, semiurban and rural centres. banks and financial service providers can leverage the advantage by reaching out to people through this medium for providing various financial and banking services. the mobile phone can function as a multi - application smart card, thus making banking services available to virtually every mobile phone owner. this holds substantial promise as the delivery vehicle

exports during the contraction and recovery for each cycle. the recovery in exports for this cycle was quicker than for the prior recession in 2001. firms reacted to the significant challenges presented by the recession by focusing on cost cutting and improved efficiencies. these efforts led to a rise in measured labor productivity ( chart 17 ). with labor compensation growth declining due to the weakness in the labor market, the higher labor productivity resulted in sharp declines in the costs of producing goods – unit labor costs. the decline in unit labor costs helped firms to restore their profitability. as demand conditions improved, firms on net began to increase their employment and hours worked by their staff ( chart 18 ). it is important to note that improvement in the demand for workers will not necessarily lead to a steady decline in the aggregate unemployment rate. during the recession, many unemployed workers withdrew from the labor force and stopped bis central bankers ’ speeches actively looking for employment. this can be seen by the decline in the labor force participation rate ( chart 19 ). while there are around 15 million unemployed workers, there are also around 9 million workers who are working part time for economic reasons ( as opposed to their own choice ), and around 1. 3 million “ discouraged ” workers who want a job but who are not currently actively looking for work – and therefore are not counted as unemployed. as firms decide to increase their total hours, some of this additional labor demand will take the form of firms restoring part - time workers to full - time status – an action that does not reduce the unemployment rate. in addition, as conditions begin to improve in the labor market, discouraged workers may decide to reenter the labor force and to renew their search for a job. this reentry pushes up the measured unemployment rate until these reentrants find new employment. as the recession ended, consumption growth returned to positive, supported by improvement in disposable income growth and a leveling off of the household saving rate ( chart 20 ). household wealth began to recover as equity markets improved and the deterioration in house prices abated, supported in part by demand created by the housing tax credit programs ( chart 21 ). as conditions in financial markets improved, banks ceased tightening their lending standards ( chart 22 ). lending activity stopped contracting, and credit became more readily available for large firms that had access to the credit markets ( chart 23 ). midway through 2010, however, questions started to arise as to whether the economy was entering a “ soft - patch ”