IBA working on ease of banking on lending side: CEO Sunil Mehta

The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) is working on bringing ease of banking on the lending side and is also focussing on swift decision making amid the COVID-19 crisis, its CEO Sunil Mehta said on Friday.

Member banks are working on digitisation of loan products so that the human intervention is minimised in the process of loan, he said.

"Ease of banking is one of the key agenda of IBA and bankers are thinking through this. Bankers have to think about swifter delivery. Banks are converting this pandemic in opportunity for digitisation of their loan products...6 months from now you will find more digital lending products and help in ease of banking," he said.

Citing 'psbloansin59minutes' portal, he said, this kind of algorithm based decision making platform can be extended towards the entire loan life cycle with the objective of reducing physical interface.

He further said ease of transaction has already taken place as one can do it with a click of button.

"Banking has transformed during the last 10 years and it is going to transform further and these improvements are really needed. Bankers are working on it," he said at a webinar organised by Assocham.

Assuring all support to MSMEs, State Bank of India (SBI) Managing Director Dinesh Kumar Khara said the bank is quite open to the request of rehabilitation and restructuring of loans also.

Khara also said some sectors of the economy like hospitality, travel and tourism would need hand-holding.

Echoing similar views, Mehta said the government has also requested RBI to consider a one-time restructuring scheme for some sectors hit hard by the pandemic.

"Sectors which really require separate attention are aviation , hospitality, travel and tourism etc. These are the sectors which are greatly impacted during the pandemic because of occupancy level and travel restrictions. May be the government comes out with special packages for these sectors and even the Reserve Bank can come out with special restructuring schemes," Mehta said.

Acknowledging that demand is one of the major concern areas, Khara said, rural space provides some hope as the agri economy is not impacted too badly.

Various measures taken by both RBI and the government including Rs 20.97 lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package will help fuel the growth ambition of the economy, he added.