Murthy to banks: innovate, survive

"Technology is needed most by the poorer sections of the society. It is true that though in India it has remained largely restricted among urban centres which have seen tremendous improvements in the last five years. But when broadband becomes cheaper, as efforts are on to make it so, we will see more penetration of technology and technology based banking to rural sectors. We certainly do not want two ways of dealing with urban and rural communities," said N R Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor, Infosys Technologies on Thursday replying to a query on ways to reach rural areas with better banking.

He also discredited the small sector policy of the government as an 'absolute failure', which had done nothing for the small sector industry in India including creation of jobs, increasing exports or contributing more to the GDP, adding that the issue needed close consideration.

Chairing a session on 'Technology: The Key Differentiator' held as part of FICCI's Conference on 'Global Banking: Paradigm Shift' here on Thursday, he said, "Banks have to learn to innovate constantly to differentiate themselves from others especially in today's market where there is a plethora of choices for the customer and increased shareholder expectations."