The Keyboard Lender

TEN TO 15 YEARS AGO, considering an outsourced risk team or branch manager was unimaginable. That is precisely what India's third-largest private sector bank, Axis Bank, is doing as part of a massive digitisation drive through 'Axis 2.0,' a fully digital platform being designed to cater to all banking needs of customers without manual intervention. Along with 'Sparsh' (touch), the programme it has recently launched for focusing on customer service, it is looking to become the most customer-obsessed bank in India.

"With Sparsh, we are reimagining the entire service architecture that we are delivering, changing organisation culture in the process. Our aim is to build customer experience as a true differentiator by using digital and analytics technologies for addressing their needs," says Rajiv Anand, deputy managing director, Axis Bank.

'Bharat Banking' is how the bank describes its ambitious plans to cater to rural and semi-urban areas. "We've built a separate vertical for Bharat Banking under a very senior person. We are using a mix of technology and partnerships in this space that will help us grow considerably. Infrastructure-wise, mobile data, Aadhaar and now GST are enabling us to serve customers better," says Anand.

Customer Experience

Today, 65% transactions happen via the app. In 94% cases, they are instant; there is no person in back office doing any entry. This leads to cost savings. The bank depends on physical verification for only 6% transactions where database is not directly accessible (such as verifying driving licence submitted as address proof).

Even non-Axis Bank customers can use its app to apply for loans or other products. The bank leverages India Stack, a digital identity, payment and data management system, to access a customer's other bank accounts for underwriting a loan. "Similarly, KYC is done on video with PAN and Aadhaar, while eSign is used for signing agreements. We can fetch information of the customer from his non-Axis Bank accounts through the account aggregator ecosystem," says Sameer Shetty, president & head, digital business & transformation, Axis Bank.

The bank is witnessing massive growth in digital transactions. About 65% fixed deposits are made by customers themselves in Axis 2.0 format. About 50% of new mutual fund subscriptions are digital. Over 20% new personal loans by value are digital. By volume, 80% of loans are done digitally. "All these features lower cost by 50-55% compared to physical and give the customer a much better experience," says Shetty. Axis Bank has now launched a project for digitisation on the corporate side. "We have reimagined the journeys for corporates, whether it is cash management, trade finance, forex or helping them manage money and balance sheets more effectively," says Anand.

Technology Prowess

Axis 2.0 has hit a rating of 4.8 out of 5 on Google Playstore, up from 4.6 a year ago, with over two million reviews. "The bank did a major app upgrade in June 2022 and by October got 4.8 star rating, making it the highest rated mobile banking app in the world. The site has 12 million monthly active users. In the credit card section of the app, the bank gets 1.5 million unique users every day," claims Shetty.

"We want to set a global benchmark in digital capabilities, people, processes and technology," says Shetty. Next on the agenda is tapping the generative artificial intelligence wave. Generative AI-based chatbots can interact with people to know about their needs.

"We will also work through partners. So, we have the largest co-branded credit card partnership with Flipkart. We have a similar partnership with Airtel and Google. We will continue to enter into partnerships to build distribution for products and services that we are generating," says Anand.

Citibank Retail Biz Takeover

For years, Axis Bank had been aware that the high quality, affluent banking business of Citibank's retail franchise was highly complementary to its business, particularly trade credit and credit card. In March this year, it completed the acquisition of the consumer businesses of Citibank India and its non-banking finance arm, Citicorp Finance (India), for ₹11,603 crore.

"We are leaving no stone unturned to make the process seamless for our customers. As of now, everything is on track," says Shetty. This will be another milestone in the bank's journey.