|
I
read on the internet that someone has said
"Without a sound and effective banking system in
India, it cannot have a healthy economy. The
banking system of India should not only be
hassle free but it should be able to meet new
challenges posed by the technology and any other
external and internal factors."
Banking and Financial institutions have a very
important role in the economic development of a
country, as well as serving the masses, if it is
utilized in the right way. In the earlier days,
people were keeping their valuable stuff with
some money lenders or jewelers, but as the
population matured and businesses expanded, the
need for more Banks became strong.
It is true that since Independence, Banks have
reached to far flung villages and remote areas
of the country. Here I am only focusing on
Bihar, but some comparison with other locales is
necessary. I have done a great deal of banking
in the U. S. since I live here now. There seems
to be a vast difference and it is not just in
the technology and convenience aspects.
Banks in the United States generally do business
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and sometimes as late as 6
p.m.. Additionally, some have hours on Saturday
mornings. In Bihar, banks are open 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. --- but for real business with customers,
not before 11 a.m. and ending at 2 p.m.. I can
reach my banks in the U.S. 5 minutes before
closing and still they will be happy to do
business with me. I do not think this is
possible in Bihar. In Bihar, I have seen clerks
coming on the job, greeting each other, having
discussions about politics and current events
while account-holding customers wait. Why are
they having the social hour while people have
been waiting since 10 am? If anyone dares to say
anything, he will be boycotted from the bank and
if he dares to do more, they will not hesitate
to call the police and hand him over, saying he
is trying to harass or beat the employees.
Nobody will listen to that poor man who is just
trying to get a job done.
In my experience, if you go to withdraw your
money, they will question your signature, and
you have to bring a witness who can verify your
identity. I go to banks here, and my signature
always looks a little different. I have never
had a problem. They look at the style of my
signature. I get asked for ID if I go to a new
branch.
I have my accounts in one bank. I can go and get
service at any of its branches. In India, you
have to open a thousand accounts for a thousand
branches and cities. I can withdraw my money
from any of my bank’s ATMs and I do not have to
pay any additional surcharge. It is actually a
savings for the bank that they do not have to
hire any additional employee. It is more secure.
It has a camera which records your picture, in
case a stolen ATM or other card is used to
withdraw money. In India, this service is
sporadically available, and even if you can find
one, there is a guard there. Maybe the machine
is working, maybe it is not. ATM cards are
offered routinely, with no additional charges
and without any balance limitations. Free
checking accounts (some with no minimum
balances) are offered, while this seems
impossible in India.
If I need a bank draft, a money order,
travelers’ checks or even an international wire
transfer, the teller I have can provide all the
services to me. In Bihar, I went to exchange my
dollars and I heard only few branches in the
State are authorized to do this. If I send money
to my parents, it takes a month to turn into
cash for them. Here you deposit your check and
the money will be credited in your account. If
there will be any discrepancy, they will debit
your account, of course.
With computers and internet access as widespread
as it is in the U. S., all the branches are
connected to each other and the home office.
With agreements among some different banks, and
large international networks, it is safe to say
that your money is available anywhere in the
world that there are facilities. How much could
India and Indians benefit from this kind of
access and technology?
Staffing is one of the biggest hurdles in the
growth of the banks and economy. Reliable
technology is one thing, but the fact that
employees are not trained to handle multiple
tasks is a huge issue. Just like in the post
offices. Are our people less capable than
Americans? NO! Bank clerks are not only
ill-trained in the scope of their work, but they
are rude to customers. Customer service is one
reason that I do not dread having to go to a
bank in this country. I like being spoken to
courteously. I like that an employee will do
their best to help me resolve any issue that
might have arisen in my account.
Private and foreign banks are flourishing and
our Govt and Unions are not ready to open for
them in remote areas. They are worried that
competition and COMPETENCE will put government
and nationalized banks out of business.
I would like to share a brief history of Banks
in India, which I have found over internet while
I was doing research about the banks in India.
East India Company established the first Bank in
India as Bank of Bengal (1809), Bank of Bombay
(1840) and Bank of Madras (1843), and called
them Presidency Banks. These three banks were
amalgamated in 1920, and Imperial Bank of India
was established. It started as a private
shareholders banks, with mostly Europeans
shareholders. In 1865, Allahabad Bank was
established --- the first time exclusively by
Indians. Punjab National Bank Ltd. was founded
in 1894 with headquarters at Lahore. Between
1906 and 1913, Bank of India, Central Bank of
India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Bank,
and Bank of Mysore were set up. The Reserve Bank
of India came in 1935. The Government of India
came up with The Banking Companies Act of 1949
in order to streamline banking activities. It
was amended further in 1965. Reserve Bank of
India was vested with extensive powers for the
supervision of banking in India as the Central
Banking Authority. In 1955, it nationalized
Imperial Bank of India and formed State Bank of
India to act as the principal agent of RBI and
to handle banking transactions of the Union and
State Governments all over the country. In 1960,
14 major commercial banks in the country were
nationalized, and in 1980, seven more banks were
Nationalized. In 1991 after liberalisation of
the banking sector, the country is flooded with
foreign banks and their ATM stations. Phone
banking and net banking are introduced.
|
Comments: |
The
best banking services available in
Patna/Bihar is with ICICI Bank.
Sending money from USA to India is
very simple and easy. You can
operate your a/c from any city in
India having only one a/c. -
Prakash Swaroopa - Mar. 10, 2006
You have drawn a true picture of the
working style of Banks in Bihar. I
remember that it was a full day
affair to withdraw money from out
local branch of SBI at Hilsa. But at
the same time we should not compare
services in Bihar with that to in
US. Here all systems are in place
all services work under stiff
competition. Bihar is still
struggling to stabilize the things.
Now situation are changing and they
have started getting competition
from private sector. I think with
time the “BABU” mentality of bank
staff will also go away. - Nawin
Kumar, New York City, USA - Mar. 10, 2006
I don't think the banking system is
as bad as painted by the writer. It
is completely naive on his part to
compare US banks with banks in
Bihar. Think about how much
improvement has been made over the
last decade.
I find it difficult to believe that
the writer has had all the bad
experiences he described. If that is
the case then he is unfortunate
since I am also in US and visit my
motherland (India) and my birth
place (Patna) once every year and
have never felt the way the writer
described.
I know improvements are needed and
people are eager to learn. Send me
some specifics and when I am there I
will check with the bank people - I
have always felt that people are
looking for advice and if we show
humility they will come forward and
learn.
Please do not get upset with my
comments, Mr Khurshid, since I feel
we all owe a lot to our motherland,
our alma mater. It is because of our
country and the education in
childhood that we received that we
are
what we are today.
We should try to provide solutions
rather than find faults where none
exists. - Arvind Jha - Mar. 10,
2006
If you are talking about the public
sector bank then to large extent
your experience is true but things
are changing now. Even a small place
in Bihar is having access to ATM,
but the social structure is so that
you cannot leave the ATM there
without any guard
You have not mentioned one specialty
about the people in U.S. that in
general people in U.S. speak truth.
You have not mentioned that nobody
cares for the rules and regulations
there and if a good fellow wants to
do something as per the rules and
regulation, he will never succeed in
getting his/her work done.
If we really wanted to make our
country proud and Bihar proud then
we all have to follow the path of
truth otherwise we can't do any
thing but just write pages like
this. - Sandeep Sahay,
California, U.S.A - Mar. 10, 2006
Less you talk, more you face the
difficulties in bank and banking
Systems in Bihar particularly in
nationalised Banks e.g. UCO,
Allahabad Bank, SBI, etc.
Just you enter into a bank, you see
their activities; their attitudes
with customers; their behaviour with
the customers (genuine customers
too); their talks; and their
psychology
also, etc, it's vomiting.
Among all these banks ICICI is the
best (it's a private bank). They
show good behaviour, manner,
services, response, etc. UTI, HDFC
are also good.
But please don't talk about our
nationalised banks - very rough and
rude. - Anant Saha - Mar. 10, 2006
I always welcome any comments and
suggestions by anyone. This is the
reason we all have to have a voice
and we must listen to each other so
we can expand our views. Each of us
has different experiences. I did not
write this article focusing on
Patna. My article is mostly in the
background of smaller towns, far
from Patna. There are no banks
except those Public Sector
Nationalized banks: no private or
multi national banks. Mr. Prakash
has mentioned about ICICI bank and
he is correct. I came to know about
that bank when I was doing some
research in preparation for sending
money to India. My solution was not
ICICI bank, as it has no link where
I wanted to send money.
I wanted only to give an idea to my
Bihari brothers and sisters how a
bank looks in United States, as a
means to contrast the experiences. I
wrote to outline a problem, to raise
some awareness. If we are not aware,
then we can do nothing. I appreciate
that my mistake was pointed out to
me.
I do not know about other cities,
but I can tell you please go to a
town, Nawada. It is not very far
from Patna, only 100km; 60 km from
Gaya; maybe 40 km from Biharsharif .
You can verify anything I have
mentioned in my article. My actual
experience was worse than I had
described here. Before posting this
article, I edited many things. I was
mindful of portraying a very bad
image of Banks in our beloved state
Bihar. Do not mistake me here: I do
love my native state, and I do want
conditions to be better.
Thanks to all of you and I hope our
Banks in Bihar will do a better job
in the future. - S. M. Khurshid
Anwar - Mar. 11, 2006 |
|
Discussion on this topic is now
closed. |
Return to previous Page |
