IT helped Syndicate Bank Embrace the Check Truncation System
A case study on Security in BankingReader ROI
Executive Summary
CIO 100 Winner: Atul Kumar, assistant GM of Syndicate Bank led his bank into an industrywide movement that would enable a much faster clearance of cheques.
The Indian banking system has evolved rapidly. Today, banks are embracing innovative technologies to enhance the banking experience of its customers. Syndicate Bank, a public sector institution that was established in 1925, is one of them. When RBI introduced the check truncation system in NCR, Syndicate Bank's Delhi branch was quick to embrace the change and undertook project.
Case Study Highlights
"Very few countries in the world have implemented this system and we are proud to be associated with this project," says Atul Kumar, assistant GM-IT of Syndicate Bank.
But Kumar was also quick to appreciate that embarking on such a project would be a daunting task. The path towards implementation was strewn with challenges. First among these was changing the mindset of users. Apart from the change in routine, many were not convinced that the system was secure. Motivating the bank's staff and instilling confidence in them that image-based clearing is safe and secure was difficult, recalls Kumar.
"The age-old reliance on physical checks was very difficult to break," he says. "We explained to them that there was no need to worry about someone scanning a fraudulent check and taking money away."
Kumar says he overcame user resistance and secured their buy-in by training them in the new system and holding multiple workshops. Another extremely critical aspect of this project, says Kumar, was security. The bank took around six months to test because it wanted to obviate any possible risks. They created a comprehensive information security framework to ensure that there was no problem in scanning checks and finally processing it at the RBI gateway.
Once these challenges were encountered, Syndicate Bank started incorporating the check truncation system in 2008 for all the branches in NCR. These branches were progressively moved over to the new system over a six-month period.
They followed a cluster model in which 30 nodal centers at convenient locations were created to take care of the entire clearing operations of around 40,000 checks. Syndicate Bank incurred an expense of Rs 20 crore on the system but besides leading to cost savings, it also resulted in checks being cleared within a day.
The Person Behind It
“Very few countries in the world have implemented this system and we are proud to be associated with this project.”
Other Security Case Studies
AstraZeneca Empowers its Sales Force with 800 Netbooks
A case study on Wireless Security in Pharma & HealthcareWith 3G enabled-Lenovo netbooks, the company’s 800-strong salesforce in India can now send sales reports on the go.
- BSES Wins Over Customers With CRM
- Trent Strengthens Security with an Open Source Solution
- In House Searches Made Easy with a Digital Archiving System at JWT
- Here's How Reliance Capital Keeps their Corporate Date Secure
- A Risk Assessment Framework Helps ICICI Bank Secure its Applications
Other Banking Case Studies
How the Mobile Platform Lowered Banking Costs at Barclays
A case study on VPN / MPLS in BankingA mobile platform using short codes was Barclay’s best bet to increase its reach in India. But could IT ensure that cost didn’t break the strategy?
