Now Reading: Indian Banks Urged to Use AI Beyond Retail and Automation
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Indian Banks Urged to Use AI Beyond Retail and Automation
At the FIBAC 2026 conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said banks must use artificial intelligence to counter AI-driven fraud, as traditional rules-based systems struggle with fast-changing tactics. SBI…
The Story in Brief
At the FIBAC 2026 conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said banks must use artificial intelligence to counter AI-driven fraud, as traditional rules-based systems struggle with fast-changing tactics. SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty urged lenders to take AI beyond retail banking and reach rural borrowers, small businesses and customers without conventional credit histories.
A FICCI, Indian Banks’ Association and Boston Consulting Group report said banks should redesign operations around agentic AI, rather than simply digitise existing processes. A loan can involve more than 25 documents, 50 manual data fields and up to eight reviews, while routine servicing takes 10 to 20 per cent of branch time. The report also called for workforce reskilling, stronger oversight and wider risk controls.
The Indian Opinion
The loudest claims will either present AI as a cure for financial exclusion or as an inevitable job destroyer. Neither follows from the evidence. Better data could widen credit, but flawed models can deepen exclusion, while automation may shift work rather than erase it. Banks should publish error rates, complaint outcomes and fraud losses for AI-led decisions. Those figures will show whether the technology improves banking for customers, not just productivity for lenders.
Sources (3): timesnownews.com, timesnownews.com (2), timesnownews.com (3)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
