New SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar wants staffers to be tech-savvy with human touch

 Rajnish Kumar, the new chairman of State Bank has called upon the over 2.68 lakh Team SBI to work towards turning the nation's largest lender into a digital fortress even as they up keep the high ethical standards the organisation has built over the years.

Kumar took charge as the 26th chairman of the 211-year -old SBI last Saturday from Arundhati Bhattacharya, who on her last presser, had said digitation was one of the unfinished agendas she was leaving to her successor to complete. Asserting that technology is radically changing the way banking is done now, Kumar, in a letter to the staff, today said one of the hallmarks of technology is the transformative way it functions, so to make technology meaningful organisations need to assimilate technology in to their operational culture.

"But bare adoption of digital platforms for delivery is not going to serve us. We need to educate and functionally update ourselves on tech-front continually for providing an easy-to-navigate and seamless digital services especially for millennials and the gen-x customers. "Only then, technology will provide us with a sustainable and competitive advantage. Only then, we would be able to efficiently deliver new-age banking to new India," Kumar said in the letter.

Recalling the huge strides that SBI has achieved in the past few years on the digital front, he said, "Till a few years ago we were perceived as a traditional bank. But today we stand out as a technology-savvy, modern and forward-looking bank, be it on the delivery channels,new cutting technologies, products and services, we are offering a slew of new-age banking services to meet the financial needs of one and all." He thanked all his predecessors, especially Bhattacharya, "from whom I have taken over a sterling legacy and a host of path-breaking initiatives." Stating that SBI cannot sit on the laurels it has achieved in the past, he underlined that the banking is passing through very tough times not just in the country but across the globe.

"Despite our grit, fortitude, hard work and resilience, we also could not stay insulated from the unfavourable macro conditions but challenges inspire us. We are wired that way," he said. Urging every SBI employee to be the face of the bank, he said, "A bank is as good as its frontline people. Being polite to your customers is the best way to grow your community of loyal customers. "We may have the best of the products, technology, ambiance but if we are not courteous and polite to our customers, our business will not endure. We will not progress.
Politeness is what builds a great bank," he said.