We will wait a few months to answer when we will list SBI YONO: Chairman CS Setty

SBI chairman CS Setty

State Bank of India will wait for a few months before taking a call on monetising its digital platform YONO, Chairman CS Setty said at the launch of YONO 2.0 on December 15 in Mumbai, stressing that the immediate focus is on deepening customer adoption, lowering cost-to-serve and delivering a uniform experience across mobile, internet banking and branches.

While market speculation has periodically centred on value unlocking or listing of YONO, Setty made it clear that monetisation is not an immediate priority. “We will wait a few months before talking about commercials,” he said, noting that SBI is currently focused on cost efficiencies and customer experience rather than valuation exercises.

He pointed out that digital onboarding through YONO allows SBI to acquire customers at one-tenth the cost of a traditional branch, while also sharply reducing servicing costs. Overall, YONO 2.0 is expected to reduce the bank’s cost-to-serve by 40-50 percent, while improving penetration of insurance, wealth and loan products, he said.

Speaking at event, Setty said SBI’s digital transformation is now anchored on what he described as the “Yonoisation of the bank”, with the platform expected to serve as the backbone for customer acquisition, servicing and future growth across products.

Setty said YONO is no longer just a mobile application but a complete reimagining of SBI’s digital architecture. The bank has rewritten its internet banking codebase, now rebranded as YONO Net Banking (YNB), and aligned customer journeys across mobile apps, internet banking and branch portals.

“If a customer starts a journey on YONO or YONO Net Banking and is unable to complete it, they can walk into a branch and finish the same journey seamlessly,” he said, adding that this uniform experience across channels is central to SBI’s customer-first approach.

YONO currently connects with over 9.4 crore customers, while 93 per cent of SBI’s transactions are already digital, underscoring the scale at which the platform operates.

SBI plans to aggressively scale YONO’s user base from the current 9.6 crore to 20 crore customers over the next two years, primarily through mobile banking.

Setty said the bank already opens nearly 70,000 accounts daily, and going forward, 90 per cent of new customers will be onboarded directly through the YONO mobile application.

“This platform is built to scale and serve 20 crore customers,” he said, adding that the underlying technology investments are designed to be reusable across channels and products, rather than limited to YONO alone.

Highlighting changing customer preferences, Setty said SBI’s internal studies showed strong demand for regional language interfaces and faster, simpler journeys. YONO 2.0 currently supports English and Hindi, with plans to roll out in 15 Indian languages in phases.

Nearly one-third of SBI’s customer base is below 30 years of age, a segment the bank is keen to deepen engagement with through mobile-first experiences. Notably, even non-SBI customers will be able to explore parts of YONO 2.0, reflecting the bank’s ambition to use the platform as a gateway to formal banking.

SBI also expects payments and fund transfers to be the most-used feature on YONO 2.0, after completely reimagining its UPI stack to deliver faster and more seamless transactions. Addressing concerns around fraud and OTP delays, Setty said the platform follows a “security-first by design”approach, with features such as transaction controls, time-based access restrictions and in-app notifications.

The bank is also rolling out a standalone OTP generator, reducing reliance on telecom networks for time-sensitive transactions.

“This will be the most secure app we have built, and customers have full control over their own security settings,” he said.

Despite the digital push, Setty ruled out branch rationalisation, saying SBI will continue to serve customers physically while reimagining branch roles. The bank plans to deploy 10,000 floor managers, up from the current 3,500–4,000, to assist customers with digital migration at branches.

These roles will be created through SBI’s operations support subsidiary and will focus exclusively on retail customers.

“Our approach is digital-first, not digital-only,” Setty said.

While SBI has already begun work on YONO 3.0, Setty emphasised that YONO 2.0 has been built to remain relevant for at least another decade. “This is about simplification, scalability and longevity,” he said. “The technology will evolve, and so will YONO,” he added.