Why in News ?

Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs inaugurated Doorstep Banking Services by PSBs and participated in the awards ceremony to felicitate best performing banks on EASE 2.0 Index Results.

EASE 2.0 Index Results

• It was launched in January 2018 by the government and PSBs.
• Aimed at institutionalising clean and smart banking.
• It was continued in EASE 2.0 built on the foundation laid in EASE 1.0 and furthered the progress on reforms.
• Index performance measured based on 120+ objective metrics.
• EASE 2.0 has Six themes
  • Responsible Banking
  • Customer Responsiveness
  • Credit off-take
  • Udyam iMitra of MSME’S
  • Deepening FI and Digitalisatoin
  • Governance and HR
• The new EASE 2.0 aimed at making the reforms journey irreversible, strengthening processes and systems, and driving outcomes.
• Performance 
  • Overall score of PSBs increased by 37% between March-2019 and March-2020.
  • The average EASE index score improving from 49.2 to 67.4 out of 100.
  • Where the Banks Stands ?
    • Top Performing Banks are Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, and erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce.
    • Top Improvers are Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India & erstwhile Corporation Bank.
    • Outstanding performance in select themes : Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Canara Bank.
  • Access to Services
    • The availability of services has nearly doubled over the last 24 months.
    • Access to 35+ services such as IMPS, NEFT, RTGS.
    • 23 services such as chequebook issuance, cheque status, issuance of form 16A.
  • Digital Transformation
    • 140% increase in financial transactions through mobile and internet banking
    • 50% of financial transactions through digital channels with 4 crore customers
  • Banking Support
    • Call centers now offer services in 13 regional languages
    • Complaint redressal average turnaround time reduced from approximately 9 days to 5 days
  • Loan Processing
    • Sourcing of retail and MSME loans through the dedicated sales force and marketing tie-ups has increased nearly five times from 1.5 lakhs to 8.3 lakh loans
    • Turnaround time for retail loans reduced by 67% from the average of nearly 30 daysto nearly 10 days
• Impact through out the Economy
  • Gross NPAs reduced from ₹8.96 lakh crore in March-2018 to ₹6.78 lakh crore in March-2020.
  • Sharp decline in fraud occurrence from 0.65% of advances during FY10-FY14 to 0.06% in FY19-20
  • Asset quality improved with the net NPA ratio reducing from 7.97% in March 2018 to 3.75% in March 2020

PSB’S In Indian ECONOMY

PSB play a vital role in Indian Economy.

• There are 12 PSB’s in India
  • Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Indian Bank, UCO Bank and Bank of Maharashtra, State Bank Of India
• PSBs which account for nearly 70 percent of banking activity in the country.

Source : PIB

Topic

Prelims : About EASE 2.0 Index Result

GS II : Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment

Current Affairs Compilation : 10 September 2020