PUNE: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that banks should continue to have a human interface while serving the customers despite the massive continuing thrust on digitisation.“Digitisation should happen. It brings in greater inclusivity. But as this digitisation is happening we should ask ourselves whether we are getting distant from our customer base,” she said in Pune at the inauguration of the Local Head Office (LHO) for the Maharashtra Circle (excluding Mumbai) in Pune today. Until the shift, SBI’s both LHOs (Maharashtra and Mumbai metro) operated out of BKC, Mumbai.Sitharaman also laid emphasis on bank funding for legacy industrial clusters, largely MSME. Maharashtra, particularly its eastern and south-eastern districts, is known for MSMEs, which have to be given support.Sitharaman said that in times of global turmoil, banks have a major role to play in boosting domestic consumption. “Domestic consumption has stood by us well when global markets are in a churn and exports are taking a beating. No doubt, despite the tariffs and other challenges our exporters have been able to find newer markets and keep exports floating,” she said.On Mythos, she said that Indian banks are well prepared to meet newer challenges. “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) is in active talks with various authorities and govts from across the globe and with technology companies to understand as to how this is going to play out and what is the preparedness we need in India,” Sitharaman said.
