SBI’s YONO marred by issues and customer complaints

Not only SBI YONO, but there are issues with other banks' digital mobile applications.

Shashank Sharma, a financial advisor from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has been facing issues with the State Bank of India’s (SBI) digital and mobile platform, You Only Need One (YONO). Sharma has been trying to open a savings account on YONO but he has only met with failure.

“I am trying to open a savings account on YONO. But it shows technical errors every time,” said Sharma.

Surya, a freelance photographer and student from Madurai faced similar issues. “Even after putting all the details, the app says that there is some error,” Surya said.

One thing which was observed with Sharma, Surya and a few other complaints Moneycontrol analysed, was a common draft response from the bank.

These complaints on Twitter received the same reply from SBI’s official handle: “Dear Customer, presently we are facing technical challenges as per your account opening process. We would request you to please visit a nearby SBI branch to open a regular savings account.”

Complaints from customers

The issues with YONO are not just with non-SBI customers. Harshit Chaturvedi, an IT professional based out of Mumbai who faced issues when updating his know your customer (KYC) details on YONO.

“The YONO app is not able to update my KYC details. There is the same technical issue it displays every time,” he said.

Also read: SBI upgrades YONO app, Interoperable Cash Withdrawal facility

Moneycontrol had, in April 2023, highlighted similar customer complaints with YONO. The bank had then said that YONO services would not be available for a few hours on April 1 due to its annual closing activities.

But why are these issues with non-customers and customers of YONO important now?

The lender, had in July 2023 launched a revamped version of YONO. It launched a multitude of unified payments interface (UPI) facilities, including scan and pay, pay by contacts, request money, and other facilities. The new version of the app also worked on improving the existing technical issues.

“The YONO app has been revamped, keeping in mind the expectations of our customers for a seamless and pleasant digital experience,” SBI Chairman Dinesh Khara had earlier said.

History of YONO

SBI launched YONO as its digital banking platform in 2017 for its 400 million customers. The idea to create a super mobile app with all banking services and facilities such as e-commerce and shopping came from the bank’s desire to set up a digital marketplace to attract young customers.

“It was increasingly becoming clear to me that we had to do something remarkably different from the run-of-the-mill apps to catapult SBI as a leader in the digital space as well,” former SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said in his book The Custodian of Trust, describing the journey and early days of YONO.

The latest numbers of SBI showed that new savings accounts opened daily on YONO fell from around 26,000 in March 2022 to 23,000 in March 2023.

Also read: SBI’s YONO story: Drop in new account opening, loan disbursals and rising customer complaints

Here, Chandan Sinha, former Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India said: “At times, we’ve seen that services on YONO are not working. There are problems in the processing and service part.”

Tech issues

SBI on April 3 faced technical issues with its servers and YONO. After customers complained that the services were down, the lender in a statement said: "We regret to inform you that due to a 'technical glitch', some of our digital services were impacted for a few hours on April 03, 2023. However, the issue stands resolved, and the digital services are live and restored. We apologise for the inconvenience to our valued customers. The bank is always working toward implementing measures to prevent such occurrences. We thank you for your patience and continued trust in SBI.”

Not only SBI, but there are issues with other banks' digital mobile applications.

For example, the country's largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank, in February 2023 faced issues with its digital and web banking services. ICICI bank was another private sector bank which faced a tech outage in May 2023. Other than this, some customers of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of Baroda and IDFC First Bank, who participated in the retail digital rupee pilot, have complained of technical problems and issues while making payments.

Industry experts highlight that due to large volumes, bugs and some external threats, there are constant issues. “Large volume is an issue which needs caution. There is also a need for a robust testing mechanism. But banks and regulators are paying increasingly more attention,” said Jindal Haria, Associate Director - India Ratings & Research.

An email sent to SBI seeking responses went unanswered till the time of publishing the article.