Small finance banks: Banking on digital tech to stay ahead of curve

One of the biggest challenges for small finance banks (SFBs) from a tech point of view is the lack of an automation process and the corresponding need for manual intervention. This makes the deployment of an integrated engagement platform vital to such entities. Such a solution breaks down organisational silos, allowing for a centralised view of customer profiles and sounder communication across channels. It also helps in easier collection of EMIs and installments from micro banking and retail loanees.

This is why Ujjivan Small Finance Bank went for digital onboarding of customers, tying up with MoEngage for the purpose. But the change wasn’t easy since most of its customers came from unserved and underserved segments, with some living in remote areas. So, the bank partnered with a few names in the telecom space whose outlets could be used by customers to repay their loans, with the same being reflected in their accounts in real-time.

Sriram Srinivasan, head of digital banking, Ujjivan Bank, explains: “Prior to implementing the customer engagement solution, most of our customer communications were done manually. After MoEngage’s implementation, the bank was able to save on additional manpower which was routed to business operations, optimising response time and driving revenue growth.”

Apart from improving operational efficiency and resource utilisation, the marketing teams at the bank were able to reduce their dependency on database teams as the customer and campaign data was readily available on MoEngage. “The teams also found that using push notification as a communication channel was economical, thus contributing to an efficient ROI and adding to the bottom line,” he says.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank onboarded approximately 2,00,000 unique customers for digital payments, with more than Rs 123 crore of EMIs collected in just five months and the conversion rate from digital channels growing from 2% to a whopping 18%. The martech stack and engagement solutions have also helped the bank stay ahead of competition.

Yash Reddy, chief business officer, MoEngage, says, “Owing to the seamless product and use case fitment on Ujjivan Small Finance Bank’s side, there were no major implementation issues. In fact, the concerns of the infosec team were dealt with immediately to avoid any hiccups in the integration processes. End-to-end support from the customer servicing teams is what enabled a seamless integration.”

• Bank onboarded approx. 2,00,000 unique customers for digital payments
• Conversion rate from such channels up from 2% to 18%
• The solutions have also helped it stay ahead of rivals