attitudes towards security issues. with regard to the former, the reserve bank has issued guidelines on various issues such as internet banking, is audit, business continuity plan etc. as regards the latter i. e. the attitude towards security issues, this is an hr challenge and not one which can be addressed so easily but is one which is the core challenge. the work force of tomorrow would be a more enlightened lot, functioning in a more educated environment. continuous skill enhancement and regular training, apart from good compensation, will lead to better employee retention and motivation in a highly challenging and changing environment. i have said this before and i repeat that traditional hr systems in banks would need to undergo rapid changes in the manner of recruitment, motivation, performance appraisal and compensation package. the sooner this is done the better it would be. india is recognised as the ultimate destination for it talents and firms from the world over are seeking it solutions from india. our banking system too has matured and proved its resilience and capabilities. a combination of these two professionals i. e. banks and it should be able to lift not just the banking industry but the entire economy, especially the rural sector onto a higher trajectory of growth. permit me to end my address with a quote from the book “ the world is flat ” by thomas l. friedman which makes one proud to be indian. i quote, “ if i have a grand daughter one day and i tell her that i am going to india she will say grand pa is that where software comes from ”. perhaps, a decade ahead it would be a little kid in switzerland pointing to the signboard of an indian bank and saying “ look dad – our bank ”! thank you.

we will buy one. we need net connectivity ”. that summarises it all. also, itc ’ s e - choupal would not have been such a huge success and almost replaced the local mandi if this were not true!! what would the bank gain from this? i ) only customers i. e. either as depositors or as borrowers would get the service and there is no gainsaying the fact that banks would benefit from both. ii ) it would free the farmer from the shackles of the ubiquitous moneylender and the avaricious middle man and most importantly banks would be providing service to the farmer and the common man, through the use of it. a win - win solution for both! if the railways can change the entire environment of booking of tickets, checking of reservations and so on and provide wholesome service to the common man, why can ’ t our banks harness technology to do so? the future holds exciting promises for those institutions which can quickly recognise the opportunities, harness their strength, seize the initiative and flow across hitherto uncharted areas of activity. banks and fis have proven themselves upto this task. we are moving from the use of micr technology to the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid ( wharton school publishing ) image based cheque processing and have successfully gone forward from ecs & eft to rtgs. the infinet system set up by the rbi for use by banks has demonstrated that pki based messaging system surpasses international standards and also meets the legal requirements pertaining to electronic data transmission in a safe and secure manner. banks have leveraged technology to provide most sophisticated services to customers without their having to visit the bank. no doubt, every change brings it ’ s own concomitant irritants. this is not the forum to deal with this except to say that these need to be addressed on a priority basis. consolidation of knowledge leveraging technology is the real key to success and would put a bank one step ahead of the competitor. the new generation software which has excellent data warehousing and data mining techniques, bordering on neural network, can link all data relating to a customer right from the savings to fixed deposit habits, loans, credit / debit card usage, internet usage etc., to not only have a customer ’ s financial profile but also draw behavioural profile. this can be classified into group profiles that would enable a bank to offer products to the target groups giving the