The Reserve Bank of India today on April 7 released the guidelines on “Establishment of Digital Banking Units (DBUs)”. This follows an announcement, made in the Union Budget 2022-23 for setting up of 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts to commemorate the 75 years of independence of India (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav).
RBI said, “In pursuance of the budget announcement a ‘Committee for establishment of Digital Banking Units (DBUs)’ was set-up by the Reserve Bank to outline a roadmap for establishment of DBUs. The Committee after necessary consultations and deliberations gave its recommendations on different aspects of DBU viz., the digital banking unit model, facilities to be offered in DBUs, monitoring of functioning of DBUs, cyber security and other IT related aspects, role of DBU in the spread of digital banking awareness, etc.”
What is Digital Banking Unit?
A specialised fixed point business unit / hub housing certain minimum digital infrastructure for delivering digital banking products & services as well as servicing existing financial products & services digitally, in both self-service and assisted mode, to enable customers to have cost effective/ convenient access and enhanced digital experience to/ of such products and services in an efficient, paperless, secured and connected environment with most services being available in self-service mode at any time, all year round.
What are digital banking products?
Digital banking products and services would generally mean those financial products/services whose designs and fulfilments have nearly end-to-end digital life cycle with the initial customer acquisition / product delivery necessarily taking place digitally through self-service or assisted self-service.
Who can open DBUs?
Scheduled Commercial Banks (other than RRBs, PBs and LABs) with past digital banking experience are permitted to open DBUs in Tier 1 to Tier 6 centres, unless otherwise specifically restricted, without having the need to take permission from Reserve Bank of India in each case.
For the purpose of compliance with regulatory requirements on opening of BOs during a financial year, the DBUs will be treated as opened in a centre from where the significant parts of its new business are proposed to be sourced, regardless of its physical location.
What are the infrastructure and resources required for DBUs?
Each DBU shall be housed distinctly, with the separate entry and exit provisions. They will be separate from an existing Banking Outlet with formats and designs most appropriate for digital banking users.
For front-end or distribution layer of digital banking, each bank would choose suitable smart equipment, such as Interactive Teller Machines, Interactive Bankers, Service Terminals, Teller and Cash Recyclers, Interactive Digital Walls, Document uploading, self -service card issuance devices, Video KYC Apparatus, secured and connected environment for use of own device for digital banking, Video Call / Conferencing facilities, to set up an DBU. These facilities can be insourced or outsourced while complying with relevant regulatory guidelines.
The back-end including the Core Banking System and other back office related information systems for the digital banking products and services can be shared with that of the incumbent systems with logical separation. Alternatively, banks can adopt more core-independent digital-native technologies offering better scalability, flexibility in creating new / reusable digital environments through continuous development / software deployment and interconnectivity specifically for this business segment, based on their digital strategy.
If the digital banking segment of a bank uses an API layer (integration layer) to connect with external third-party application providers, the same should be tested in an isolated/ test environment before being integrated to bank’s core systems backed by comprehensive risk evaluation and adequate documentation.
Banks are free to adopt an in-sourced or out-sourced model for operations of the digital banking segment including DBUs. The outsourced model should specifically comply with the relevant regulatory guidelines on outsourcing.
As the purpose of DBUs is to optimally blend digital infrastructure with ‘human touch’, remote or in situ assisted mode arrangements in right proportion should be planned and put in place by the banks.
The establishment of DBUs should be part of the digital banking strategy of the bank. The operational governance and administrative structure of the DBUs will be aligned with that of the Digital Banking Segment of the bank. However, in order to accelerate digital banking initiatives, each DBU will be headed by a sufficiently senior and experienced executive of the bank, preferably Scale III or above for PSBs or equivalent grades for other banks who can be designated as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the DBU.
