AI-powered rise: 9 Indian banks named global digital champions in Deloitte report

Indian banks are making strong strides in digital transformation, with nine being named ‘Digital Champions’ in Deloitte’s 6th Global Digital Banking Maturity survey. Marking a 16-percentage point rise since 2022, India’s growing digital maturity reflects a sharp focus on AI, customised services, and tech-driven banking experiences.

According to the 6th Deloitte Global Digital Banking Maturity (DBM) survey, nine Indian banks have been recognised as ‘Digital Champions’ among 40 banks that received the title globally. Since 2022, India’s DBM Index has grown from 43% to 59%, witnessing a 16-percentage point (pp) increase. Indian banks have observed the most notable gains in day-to-day banking (+9.8pp) and expanding relationships (+3.4pp). This change reflects Indian banks’ increasing digital maturity, showcasing their focus on customised advisory, rapid technological advancements, AI integration and beyond-banking offerings.

The Global DBM study, conducted biennially, surveyed 349 banks in its latest edition, assessing participants based on their retail banking maturity across three main channels: public websites, internet banking and mobile banking, which includes application messenger service-based banking. Using mystery shopping methodology, the banks’ features were evaluated across six customer journey steps, namely information gathering, account opening, customer onboarding, day-to-day banking, expanding relationships and end relationships. The latest edition of DBM has improved the methodology by adding UX insights as a benchmarking segment in addition to the customer journey steps, per the report.

Himanish Chaudhuri, Partner and Financial Services Industry Leader, Deloitte India, said, “This year’s DBM survey extends its reach to 349 banks, spanning 44 key markets across six continents. This remarkable trajectory underscores India’s growing capability to shape the future of digital banking. With regulatory support, the rise of GenAI, industry convergence and a sharper focus on fraud prevention, Indian banks are well-positioned to support the country’s vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’.”

The survey further highlights that Indian Digital Champions have outperformed their global peers across most journey steps, with India’s overall DBM Index exceeding the global average index by 20 pp. Indian Digital Champion banks scored significantly higher in information gathering, customer onboarding, day-to-day banking and overall user experience.

The Indian banking sector's digital transformation is driven by a favourable regulatory environment, expanding digital public infrastructure, increased investment and spending capacity and enhanced internet connectivity and mobile penetration. However, this progress is accompanied by challenges such as macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, rising deposit costs and concerns over credit quality, per the report.