Demonetisation a big push for digital transactions in India: Chanda Kocchar

ICICI Bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chanda Kochhar on Friday said that the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, has almost doubled digital transactions and raised the value on debit cards.

Kochhar said, "it is a positive sign that there is a huge movement in the e- transactions. The number of transactions have almost doubled and the value on debit cards have also gone up significantly. Mobile transactions have gone up significantly. The internet transactions have gone up significantly. There is a huge push to digital and electronic channels."

"The queues are not getting longer but are getting shorter day by day and number of footfalls in our branches; in the initial couple of days they were almost six times the normal footfalls but now it is around three and a half times the usual load," she added.

Hailing bank management's effort on the ground, she said customers have shown patience and are reacting positively to the demonetisation decision.

Earlier, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, said digital payments can transform the lives of the poor, and if demonetisation helps quicken the process of digitisation, the temporary pains are worth going through.

"India is pushing towards digitisation in a big way. The scale of the country means that once India gets there, the amount of digital innovation here will be greater than anywhere else in the world," Gates said.

Among big benefits of digital financial transactions, he counted a deep reduction in the cost of borrowings for the poor.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on Thursday asked people not to hoard currency as there is sufficient supply of notes, even as banks struggled to manage the rush of people thronging branches across the country to exchange the scrapped high denomination 1,000 and 500 rupee notes.

"The Reserve Bank of India has once again clarified today that there is sufficient supply of notes consequent upon increased production which started nearly two months ago. Members of public are requested not to panic or hoard currency notes," the central bank said in a statement.