providing products suitable for such markets along with appropriate delivery channels. another aspect to look at banking services in india and technology deployment is that while developing products, services, channels and strategies, focus was mostly on providing better and efficient services to the existing class / classes of customers, since the existing set of services was in itself way behind the requirements / expectations. many industry participants perceived that their operations were customer - centric, simply because they had customers. however, to their credit, when the banking sector was opened up, they adapted very quickly to the new rules of the game. but, the rules of the game are changing as the banking industry is undergoing a rapid transformation phase. unlike in the past, banks today are market driven and market responsive. the top concern for every bank is to increase or at least retain the market share. this makes it imperative that banks provide best possible products and services to ensure customer satisfaction. with the customers getting increasingly tech savvy, irrespective of the age profile, banks have greater challenges to ensure customer satisfaction. with the advent of advanced technologies there is significant scope to utilise the information / data base gathered through the tech enabled service bouquet. i intend to revisit some of these issues in more detail later. part ii initiatives taken by idrbt i must congratulate idrbt for its continuing contribution towards indian banks ’ journey “ beyond core banking ”. it has been organizing seminars in association with banks on this theme and this is the fifth in the series. what is commendable is the enthusiasm and zeal with which this institution has been discharging its role and responsibilities in times where technology is changing quickly, constantly evolving and transforming the way business ought to be done. next steps – seize the opportunity extensive use of technology is bringing about upgrades in general banking environment for all stakeholders. in this context, banks may look at opportunities to introduce technologies that balance the three cs in their operations, namely, cost, control and customer service. cbs implementation has ostensibly addressed all the 3 cs. but has it? i often wonder why should a customer be charged extra if his passbook is updated at a so - called “ non - home ” branch. does cbs add on to cost for the bank in this regard? has cbs really provided better control? i am told that for certain types of transactions, it is very difficult to trace the full etymological details. if this be so, then whither effective controls? what is

growth achieved so far and the one projected ahead has many facilitators, but implementation and leveraging of technology is, by far, amongst the biggest enablers in the context. i have divided my talk today into three parts. in the first part we would look at core banking, the journey so far and the need to look “ beyond core banking ”. in the second part i would be touching upon the initiatives taken by idrbt and the areas and technologies that the banks should set their focus on. in the concluding part i would be speaking on the initiatives taken by the reserve bank of india in the area of information technology. part i core banking solution – an assessment core banking systems ( cbs ) have facilitated building up customer - centric, service oriented architecture of banking services at front end and also created the capacity to efficiently handle large volumes of transactions, data and book - keeping requirements. cbs is positioned as an integrated solution to the basic banking operations pertaining to deposits, withdrawals, credit delivery, and attendant backend jobs, mainly in the retail and small business segments. it has enabled the introduction of efficient and convenient delivery channels like atms, net banking, tele banking etc. so, when the banking industry has reached, so to say, a critical mass as far as using cbs is concerned, what ’ s next? do we bis central bankers ’ speeches need to go “ beyond core banking ” and if so, what should be the areas and technologies that the banks need to focus on? let us now look at the banking services in india from a different perspective. it is said that india lives in its villages. then, isn ’ t it strange that only 5 % of them have proper banking services and that there ’ s only 1 branch per 15, 000 persons. it is also a fact that although banking in india is fairly well developed in certain areas, it is fairly under - penetrated and grossly under - served in other areas. if one views the areas which have not been served, it may be said that that until now, banks have not seen banking in rural areas as an attractive business, although, in the recent past, the opportunity and growth in rural markets is equalising with urban markets. the fact that there is tremendous potential for inclusive banking is, now, making banks recognise rural banking as economically - viable, at least to a certain extent. to make this become attractive, technology provides solutions. banks need to utilise technology to harness this potential by