Alternate Channels of Banks and Digital/ Cashless Economy: A Micro-Analytical Study on the Awareness and Use of Various Alternate Channels in Guwahati Metropolitan Region

Abstract

Indian government has decided to move towards digital and cashless economy. This move of the Indian government from high cash economy to cashless economy needs drastic changes in banking system. Various banks have to come up with several new financial products to meet the need of the common people. Alternate channels are technology-driven products which are meant for delivering financial services without relying on bank branches. In the present study, emphasis has been given to how much customers are aware about various alternate channels of various banks and how much they use these channels in Guwahati city. An attempt has also been made to find out why people hesitate to use alternate channels, the reason for not using these digital channels. Two sets of questionnaires had been designed for our study in addition to the interactions with SBI bank personnel, one pertaining to all alternate channel products of SBI as a whole while another is pertaining to only ATMs. A total of 200 samples were collected for analysis. It has been found that other than ATMs/ debit cards, other alternate channels of banks are not known to most of the customers. Most of the customer hesitates to use these alternate channels due to financial illiteracy, fear of handling latest technology, and feeling of insecurity.

Keywords: Digital Economy, Alternate Channels, Financial Literacy

View PDF