Traditional vs Modern Banking: Here’s How The Job Has Changed
With each revolution our society has experienced a sea of change around and within itself. The Industrial Revolution gave way to machines and the digital wave gave us the luxury of information and service at our fingertips. Gone are the days of standing in long queues at the banks for simplest of services like knowing your account balance. Today, almost every banking facility is accessible on any gadget and on your fingertips. In this article, Careers360 spoke to two bank employees and brought you their experiences. Read on to know how different the job at a bank has changed over the years.
Banking sector is one of the best examples that has witnessed a drastic change in its operation and working thanks to digitisation. The transformation from standing in long queues to getting the operating your account via a smartphone is the new norm. Arvind Kumar Thakur, deputy manager with State Bank of India, since 1992 and Deepti Srivastava, currently working as the branch manager in Dehradun with the same bank who started her SBI career in 2011 share their experience of how their work day has transitioned.
Arvind who is a BCom graduate from Patna University, “says, “In those days, individual banks used to conduct separate exams for recruitment for various posts. The process included a written exam followed by the interview.” He goes on to add that General Knowledge and Maths was important for such exams.
Today, the IBPS conducts the common written exam (CWE) for all banks except for the SBI and RBI. Every public sector bank conducted their own exams.
Deepti’s journey however has been through various banks. “I qualified the Probationary Officer (PO) Exam conducted by the Punjab National Bank (PNB), the Central Bank of India and the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur . I chose to join the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur.” Says Deepti who has completed BSc Hons in Biology from Ranchi University.
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Our conversation with both Arvind Kumar and Deepti has drawn out certain similarities and differences as to how a modernised the career in banking has become
Traditional vis-à-vis Modern Banker’s Role
In the traditional banking system, customers visited the bank only during banking hours (mostly from 10am to 4 pm) but in the modern banking system, one avails the services anytime, round the clock. In some ways modernised banking has taken over traditional banking.
Earlier everything was paper based and hand written, for instance, the passbook was updated manually by the cashier or the clerk whereas, today, banks either email bank statements, or have passbook update machines installed in their branches and ATMs.
These days, the newly appointed bankers get training for at least six months during their probation, but in the 70s, 80s or even early 90s, bankers didn’t get any training as such. They were expected to learn on the job and mistakes had repercussions as well.
There is also a vast difference between the salary that old bank employees used to get when compared to their young counterparts.
In the old banking system, all transactions and records were dependent on the memory of those manning the bank counters. Records on name, family members, and bank account etc of their customers just by merely looking at them. This is completely different today. The onus of remembering account numbers, customer ids etc is on the customer and connected via your mobile numbers.
In the traditional banking system, the ledger entry was manual. On an everyday basis, bankers were not allowed to leave the bank unless and until all the transactions were recorded in the ledger irrespective of their number.
In the present banking job profile, most of the banks are given certain targets to achieve in a month or so which puts a lot of pressure on the bank employees, the branch manager in particular as he/she is responsible and answerable for his/her branch’s working. The common targets are - savings account opening, current account opening, FD opening, sale of insurance and credit cards, loans etc. This wasn’t there in the old job profile.
In the new banking system, banks have dedicated people and numbered counters for different works like - loan, credit card, cash deposit & withdrawals, new account opening, FD & RD etc, internet banking services and many more but in the traditional banking system, works were not divided between bank employees. Every employee used to do all these work and were well aware of the work procedures of all of these. For instance, they never asked you to move to the next counter, which nowadays is very common to hear in banks.
In the traditional banking system, the use of computers began very late (late 80s) and its use was limited. Today however, almost every banking transaction is done with the use of computers and the internet and possessing the knowledge of computers and some common softwares and applications are the prerequisite for applying for any job in a bank.
End of the day, traditional bankers calculated the transactions themselves; the present banking system uses software. Moreover, banks have dedicated tech and IT teams for the smooth running of banking software.
Unlike the traditional banking system, the modern banking system is prone to getting hacked by hackers and thus it encounters many online security threats and frauds.
In the traditional banking system, the banks incur a lot of fixed and operating costs whereas, in the modern banking system, these costs are eliminated.
Similarities between traditional and modern banking system
One has to go to the physical branch to deposit cash; some banks provide the facility of cash deposit at their ATMs via cash deposit machines.
To change the registered mobile number, name, address etc, one has to go to the physical branch (home branch) of his/her bank.
To apply for a loan, one needs to go to the bank (with the exception of private sector banks for a small amount of loan).
General perception of public
A majority of people of old age, especially senior citizens, still believe in the traditional banking system and opt not to take ATM cards and internet banking facilities.
The youth and the millennials are very comfortable with using online banking services via mobile app. Despite the threat of getting hacked by hackers or online fraud, they hardly prefer to go to the bank’s branch to avail any services unless necessary.
Banks’ apps (mobile banking) and digital banking have made banking very easy and time saving.
Perks like free foreign tour, furniture, newspaper, internet and mobile allowance etc. are given to bank employees of top public sector banks like SBI, Bank of Baroda etc
These days, people, as customers, have become more aware of their rights and RBI's guidelines and they don't refrain from arguing with bank employees for something right. On the contrary, this was hardly seen in the old days.
Unlike public sector banks, private banks treat their customers very well and their customer support and problem resolution process is very fast.
Private bank employees face a lot of challenges in terms of job security and target (already mentioned above) completion . On a few occasions, in case of not completing their targets, they are even fired from their jobs.
Despite the vast difference between the modern and the traditional banking system, it can’t be denied that modernised banking is convenient to individuals but big businesses and firms still rely on traditional banking. There is no doubt that both the traditional and modern bank roles depend upon the customers’ needs. And as of today Indian banking system is a perfect combination of both.
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