RBI urges banks to use AI, strengthen cybersecurity
Mumbai, July 14
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday held its half-yearly meetings with the Managing Directors and Chief Executive Officers of Public Sector Banks and select Private Sector Banks in Mumbai, with Governor Sanjay Malhotra calling on lenders to harness artificial intelligence, strengthen cybersecurity and maintain a strong customer-centric approach.
The meetings were chaired by the RBI Governor and attended by Deputy Governors Swaminathan J., Dr. Poonam Gupta, S. C. Murmu and Rohit Jain, along with Executive Directors responsible for supervision, regulation, enforcement, consumer education and protection, and financial inclusion.
In his opening remarks, the governor noted that the Indian banking sector has witnessed broad-based growth and urged banks to continue supporting all segments of the economy with renewed vigour while maintaining prudence.
Highlighting the growing role of technology in banking, he encouraged lenders to leverage advanced technologies, including AI, to expand their reach, improve operational efficiency, reduce costs and enhance customer experience.
At the same time, he emphasised the importance of robust cybersecurity frameworks, strong internal controls and adequate safeguards against fraud and misuse of customer data.
The governor also underscored the need for banks to foster a culture of excellence in customer service by placing customers at the centre of their operations.
During the meetings, the RBI and bank executives discussed several key initiatives and issues affecting the financial sector, including the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR), early detection of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), adoption and wider use of the MuleHunter initiative, the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Unified Lending Interface (ULI), the Account Aggregator framework, FX Retail and the RBI Retail Direct platform.
Participants shared their feedback on these initiatives and exchanged views on a range of other issues impacting the banking and financial sector, reaffirming their commitment to strengthening the resilience, efficiency and inclusiveness of India's banking system.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good move by RBI Governor. AI can help rural areas too—imagine chatbots in local languages for farmers. But please don't forget the human touch. My grandmother still struggles with ATMs, let alone AI. Customer-centric approach must include the elderly and digitally illiterate.
MuleHunter and CBDC are interesting. But early detection of fake notes? That's been a problem for decades. Hope they have a real plan beyond meetings. Also, how many banks actually have robust AI systems? Most are still outsourcing IT to third parties—big security risk there. 🤔
About time! I work in fintech and the amount of fraud happening is alarming. RBI pushing banks to use AI for fraud detection is smart. But banks need to invest in training staff too—AI is only as good as the people using it. ULI and Account Aggregator could be game-changers for credit access in rural India. 🇮🇳
RBI Retail Direct is a great initiative for small investors. But how many people actually know about it? Banks need to promote such schemes better. Also, AI in customer service is fine, but please don't make it impossible to reach a human when there's an issue. The balance between tech and human touch is crucial.
As an NRI, I hope Indian banks also strengthen cross-border digital services. FX Retail and CBDC could make remittances cheaper and faster. But security is paramount—I've seen too many phishing attempts targeting NRIs. Glad to see RBI taking this seriously, but execution is key.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.