Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged banks to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), strengthen cybersecurity measures and maintain a customer-first approach as the country’s banking sector continues to expand.
The RBI held its half-yearly meetings with the Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of public sector banks and select private sector banks in Mumbai on Tuesday. The meetings were chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra and attended by Deputy Governors Swaminathan J., Dr. Poonam Gupta, S.C. Murmu and Rohit Jain, along with senior RBI officials overseeing banking supervision, regulation, enforcement, consumer protection and financial inclusion.
In his opening remarks, Governor Malhotra said the Indian banking sector has recorded broad-based growth and called on banks to continue supporting all sections of the economy while maintaining financial prudence.
Emphasising the growing role of technology in banking, he encouraged lenders to make greater use of AI and other advanced technologies to improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, expand financial services and deliver a better customer experience.
The Governor also stressed the need for strong cybersecurity systems, robust internal controls and effective safeguards to protect customers from fraud and prevent misuse of their personal and financial data.
Highlighting the importance of customer trust, Malhotra urged banks to build a culture of service excellence by placing customers at the centre of their operations.
The discussions covered several key initiatives and developments in the financial sector, including the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR), early detection of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), wider adoption of the MuleHunter initiative, the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), the Account Aggregator framework, FX Retail and the RBI Retail Direct platform.
Bank executives shared their feedback on these initiatives and discussed a range of issues affecting the banking and financial sector. The participants reaffirmed their commitment to making India’s banking system more resilient, efficient and inclusive through technology-driven innovation and stronger governance.
With inputs from IANS