HDFC
Bank customers reported issues with their net banking and digital payments
Many were unable to carry out successful transactions, although others went so
far as to state that they could not withdraw cash from ATMs.
According
to India’s largest private sector lender, there had been an outage at one of
its data centres which had left certain services disrupted. However, HDFC Bank
has not disclosed the cause of the failure of the data centre, whether it is
due to internal or external factors, whether it is a failure or sabotage. The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked the bank to provide additional details.
This
is not the first time these difficulties have been encountered by the lender's
clients. The bank launched a redesigned version of its mobile banking
application a year ago. Yet its clients were struggling to log on to it. That
forced the bank to pull back and restore the old version of the new
application.
It
is a huge deal for a Tier 1 bank to have clients unable to reach their accounts
for two days. Technology is now fundamental to banking, so any problems there
would lead not only to a loss in the value of the brand, but also in revenue.
On social media, we are already seeing consumers complaining. We would
definitely see some defections because of these problems. When a bank faces an
unexpected technical challenge, a contingency plan to deal with the crisis is
in place. However, the strategy seems to have failed in this situation, leading
to customers facing these problems, the consultant said, speaking on terms of
anonymity.
The
country's largest private lender is HDFC Bank. It holds deposits above Rs 9
lakh crore and is one of the largest providers of wage accounts. Almost 92
percent of customer-initiated transactions were via the internet and mobile
networks, according to a presentation on its website. The branch network
accounted for just 4% of the transactions.
The banking
sector was strongly focused on digital transformation and digital disruption
even before COVID-19 shook up corporate practices and derailed personal lives.
Experts cautioned that banks should plan for anything from start-ups offering
24-7 services to financial technology companies and pure technology companies
disrupting the market for financial services. How do these companies compete
with other banks without this preparation?
Now,
catalysed by the global pandemic, it's important for banks to refocus. Digital
disruption issues and non-traditional rivalry are no longer the focus. How well
banks innovate and remain ahead of the technical curve would decide future
success.
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