According to the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)’s report titled “EASE Reforms Index for the first quarter of FY23″(released on 10th November 2022), the State Bank of India(SBI) was adjudged as the Best Bank in adopting reforms prescribed for Public Sector Banks(PSB).
- SBI is followed by Union Bank of India (UBI) in 2nd position and Bank of Baroda (BoB) in 3rd.
- SBI has topped the EASE Reforms Index and ranking of 12 PSBs on an Overall Basis in June 2022.
- EASE stands for ‘Enhanced Access & Service Excellence’.
Basis of Assessment:
The performance of PSBs is measured on the following five themes under EASE 5.0:
i.Digitally enabled customer offerings
ii.Big data & analytics
iii.Modem technology capabilities
iv.Collaborative banking
v.Employee development & governance
Top 5 on EASE Reforms Index and ranking:
Rank | Bank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SBI | 58.4 |
| 2 | UBI | 58.3 |
| 3 | BoB | 52.3 |
| 4 | Punjab National Bank (PNB) | 41.1 |
| 5 | Canara Bank | 39.1 |
Theme wise Rankings for Q1FY23:
| Rank |  Digitally Enabled Customer Offerings  | Big Data & Analytics  | Modem Technology Capabilities | Collaborative Banking  | Employee Development & Governance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SBI | Canara Bank | UBI | UCO Bank | UBI |
| 2 | UBI | BoB | SBI | Central Bank of India | SBI |
| 3 | BoB | SBI | PNB | SBI | Bank of Maharashtra |
Key Points:
i.SBI achieved positions in all themes viz. Digitally Enabled Customer Offerings (1st), Modem Technology Capabilities (2nd), Employee Development & Governance (2nd), Big Data & Analytics (3rd), and Collaborative Banking (3rd ).
ii.UBI has ranked 1st  under the two themes i.e., ‘Modern Technology Capabilities’ and ‘Employee Development and Governance’. The bank has also achieved 1st runner-up position in the theme ‘Digitally – enabled customer offerings’.
iii.Overall improvement amongst PSBs has been limited with a decrease of ~2% in the Index of the Q1FY23 with the average EASE index score changing from 38.6to 37.7out of 100 on relative basis.
iv.With regard to the status of digital collections management systems, PSBs continue to improve their technology capabilities by in-house implementation of multiple initiatives.
- Mobile app performance metrics have improved, but still behind their PVB peers (Private Sector Bank).
v.Co-lending has not seen significant growth in the last few quarters.
- Only 0.74% of RAM (Retail, Agri and MSME) loans were disbursed via co-lending.
- Share of co-lending toward priority sector was <1%
- Only 3 out of 12 PSBs have digital co-lending platforms.
Click Here for Official Report
About EASE:
It is an initiative by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance as part of the PSB Reforms Agenda and is currently under its fifth iteration viz. EASE 5.0 ‘Common reforms agenda’ which focuses on Enhanced Digital experience, Integrated and Inclusive Banking.
Click Here to Read about EASE 5.0
Recent Related News:
i.On 30th September 2022, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Dun & Bradstreet signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create the SIDBI -D&B Sustainability Perception Index (SIDBI – D&B SPeX) during an event held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (TN).
ii.According to the 2022 Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index (MCGPI), India ranks 41st out of the 44 countries, as compared to 40th position out of 43 countries in 2021.
About Indian Banks’ Association (IBA):
Chief Executive– Sunil Mehta
Headquarters– Mumbai. Maharashtra
