How five days of banking can promote Digital India

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By TBN Staff


India is a developing country and also the most hard-working country. Usually, NRIs and people living in foreign countries have a five-day work culture wherein they work for five days a week. Most countries offer holidays on Saturday and Sunday for rejuvenation.

However, it is not the same in India. Here, except in the IT sector and some PSUs and no other industry offers a 5-day work week. It is a 6-day work week culture prevalent for many years, and we are still far from reaching the 5-day work culture.

Recently, the bank unions have raised an issue regarding the same, demanding 5-day banking in India. But, the RBI and the Government are still speculating on that issue.

Let’s understand why five banking days a week is beneficial and how it will help promote digital banking.

People will sign up for digital banking options

When people know that traditional banks are functional only from Monday to Friday, they will start opting for digital banking services like net banking.

Today most people in India are hesitant to use digital banking services because there is an unknown fear of new things in this country. Hence, they must be continuously put into a situation where they have no other option but to use digital banking methods to meet their needs.

Usually, most offices have a 5-day work culture open from Monday to Friday and Saturday, and Sunday is observed as a week off. Hence, most people are habituated to visiting banks on Saturdays. With five days of banking, when they cannot schedule their banking needs on Saturday, they will start signing up for digital banking services.

People will start using digital payment software

In India, financial awareness and financial education are poor. Hence, people always want to stick to traditional methods as they fear change.

The introduction of digital payment software in India has been made for a decade, but the penetration of its use is still only visible in urban India. In semi-urban and rural India, people still opt for traditional banks to deposit or withdraw money.

With the introduction of the five-day banking culture, the penetration of digital software in remote places of India and the older age groups in India will increase drastically. In this way, more people will be introduced to digital payments and digital banking methods eventually.

It will increase the productivity of Bankers

The five-day work culture in foreign is prevalent to increase employees’ productivity. Such concepts in India don’t work out. But, slowly, a transformation is being seen in the Indian work culture.

Imagine you are riding a car; if you ride a car for long distances continuously, you and your vehicle will be fatigued. Still, if you keep riding, you are bound to meet with an accident, or your car is bound to stop abruptly.

On the other hand, if you take relevant breaks from your ride and do a night halt during your journey, you and your car can safely reach your destination without harm.

A break is significant for the brain as it helps rejuvenate a person, and it will help in improving the productivity of a person by 5-6 times. Hence, five-day work culture has a more significant impact on work productivity.

Bank employees are constantly under pressure as they are responsible for people’s money. Hence, a five-day banking option is suitable for such professions so that they can make fewer errors and work faster on the weekdays.

People will readily learn about digital banking services

The banks in India are always busy on Saturdays. Most people will schedule their banking needs on Saturdays. With the introduction of five banking days, the option of fulfilling banking needs on Saturday will be complicated. Hence, people will start opting for digital banking services and opt for digital banking methods.

Every bank in India today offers digital banking services to their customers, but most people hesitate to accept the offer due to various myths and presumptions.

The five banking days option will open up an excellent channel for digital banking services. People will start learning and educating themselves about the various digital banking methods and how they are entirely safe and helpful 24/7.

Today most people are not willing to learn about digital banking, but with five-day banking, people will approach bank employees and digital media to learn about it and employ it in their day-to-day lives.

People will get accustomed to Digital Banking

Once the Indian population has opted for digital banking services, they will get accustomed to digital banking methods very quickly. It will further help in the financial penetration and financial education of the people of India.

Digital Banking is a service that is offered by all central Indian Banks which doesn’t require customers to approach the bank physically. They can make their payments or deposits through the mobile bank application.

With the five-day banking option, people will start rooting for digital banking methods. When people are satisfied with digital banking services, they will slowly get adapted to the digital world, which will help banks to function smoothly daily as people will physically approach banks only for critical issues or needs.

India is a developing country, and the literacy rate is lower than other developed foreign countries. Hence, financial education and knowledge are comparatively lower.

Approaches like five-day banking will help people move towards newer banking methods like digital banking and make way for more financial education and improved economic penetration in remote countries.

It is also an excellent way for bank employers to relax and rejuvenate themselves to tackle challenging issues and make more robust decisions for the bank.