Page 20 - Banking Fiannce March 2018

PRESS RELEASE

UIDAI, Cashless Economy is still underrated: Consensus emerges at

Great Lakes Finance Conference

In an interesting rapid fire Q&A at 8th Annual Great Lakes Union Bank of India Finance Conference, Chief Guest Mr.
Abheek Barua, Chief Economist & Executive Vice President,
HDFC, stated that "Cashless Economy, UIDAI is still
underrated in our country. These have only enabled financial
institutions to deduct Black money, tax evasion, and other
online frauds, making transactions easier."
Agreeing to Mr. Barua, Key note speaker Mr. Arjun Shetty,
COO & Founder, BankBazaar.com too added that, "The apps
that you use on your smartphones, know your location, have
access to photos, contacts. Data Privacy is, of course, a big
concern. But, think about this - You have a ration card, you
use it or not, someone else has been selling your items in black.
With the help of UIDAI these frauds have slowed down."
Further, highlighting the impact of the 2007-2008 financial
crisis, Mr. Abheek Barua, spoke how the crisis is still hanging over the landscape of Indian Banking sector and it will take few
more years to get over it. "Banking is one of the most regulated sectors in the country. At present with technologies and
disruptive technologies, BFSI is the most affected. The transition must happen from top to the bottom. The recent monetary
policy has been far less hawkish than expected. This will maximize the impact on the sector and control inflation" he added.
Mr. Barua also opined that "some of the major
challenges faced by banks, today, are the burden of
NPA's. For a growth in the highly competitive market,
inflation must be addressed and the target must be set.
And to make this happen, banks, must, therefore, involve
more and more people in the financial network [VM]"
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Arjun Shetty
expressed India is in a very exciting phase, how the online
stream is progressing and customers are preferring
paperless applications. He also discussed on the changes
happening in FinTech and Banking sector. "Paperless
finance has been the forefront for customers and the
organizations currently as it helps in making the process
more secure and foolproof. The emergence of analytics,
AI in banking are helping in reducing the cost and delivering valuable outputs. However, still, a lot of changes are expected.
More and more banks should come forward and adapt paperless transformation, it not only helps in overcoming the
challenge but also documents the history of all the information that has been communicated" Mr. Shetty said.
The 8th Annual Great Lakes UBI Finance Conference begin with inaugural ceremony where Dr. Bala V Balachandran,
Founder, Dean & Chairman, Great Lakes Institute of Management, welcomed the guests and delivered the opening
remarks on this year's theme for the conference - 'Changing Landscape of the Indian Banking Sector'. Post the Chief
Guest and Key note address, the session concluded with a prize distribution to the students who won various Finance
based competitions conducted in the last few days leading to the conference.

Associate Dean of Great Lakes Dr. Vaidy Jayaraman and Dr. Vidya Mahambare, Chair Professor- Union Bank Center for
Banking Excellence at Great Lakes were present amongst the guests and also addressed the gathering. The conference
witnessed delegates from banking sector, FinTech enthusiasts and students and faculty of Great Lakes participate.

20 | 2018 | MARCH | BANKING FINANCE