The Public Sector Banks (PSBs) take all commercial and business-related decisions as per their board approved policies. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

As a result of the steps taken, the growth of deposits and advances of PSBs has improved from 8.2% and 9.8% in FY2021-22 to 9.3% and 15.8% in FY2022-23, respectively.

The Minister stated that as per the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 and 1980, and the State Bank of India Act, 1955, the general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs and business of the PSBs vests in its Board.

Giving more information, the Minister stated that as per inputs received from PSBs, several steps have been taken by them to address the rising competition in the deposits segment, enhance their ability to generate high-yield advances and strengthen their CASA acquisition, increase coverage of early warning signals and identify high-risk borrowers, and improve operational efficiency and customer experience, which include, inter alia, the following –

• Continuous product innovation and segment specific product offerings using analytics to drive customer retention;
• Smooth and seamless onboarding of customers by leveraging technology, like use of Video KYC, digital KYC verification;
• Strategic approach for retention of existing deposits and new deposit acquisition and digitally enabled customer offerings;
• Enhancement of access to mobile and Internet banking through increase in average number of services offered, customer-friendly features, and regional languages available on the customer interface;
• Thrust on customer-need-driven, analytics-based credit offers by large PSBs and enablement of digital retail loan request initiation through digital channels;
• Instituting comprehensive and automated Early Warning Systems (EWS), with ~80 EWS triggers and use of third-party data for time-bound remedial actions;
• Use of prediction models to identify potential NPAs; and
• Use of modern technological capabilities, e.g. Open API, AI, blockchain, analytics, etc.

Board authority in public sector banks governs commercial decisions, enabling deposit and advance growth through strategic digital measures. Growth in deposits and advances at public sector banks improved, and general superintendence, direction and management of PSBs vests in each bank's Board under the applicable Acts. PSBs have implemented measures including analytics driven product innovation, digital onboarding (Video KYC/digital KYC), strategic deposit retention and CASA acquisition, expanded mobile and internet banking, analytics based credit offers and digital loan initiation, comprehensive automated Early Warning Systems with multiple triggers and third party data, predictive NPA models, and use of Open API, AI, blockchain and analytics.