Frequantly asked question (FAQ) - Core Banking System in Post Office

What is Core Banking Project?

India Post has a vision to be one of the leaders in providing banking and money remittance services to the citizens of the country with a focus on the rural population. This vision translates into the following strategy: Be the first choice in savings bank deposits schemes with innov ative customer-centric services Provide access to diverse financial services products thereby becoming the engine of economic and social growth Increase operational efficiency through the induction of state of art technology. In order to meet the requirements and need of the India Post 2012 Project, Core Banking Solution (CBS) will be implemented across India Post covering all the post offices. CBS is networking of branches, which enables customers to operate their accounts, and avail banking services from any post office on CBS network, regardless of where they maintain their account. The customer is no more the customer of a particular post office. Thus, CBS is a step towards enhancing customer convenience through ‘Anywhere and Anytime Banking ’. CBS /Postal Banking solution is part of the overall solution planned for Indiapost, 2012

How it is different from the existing Sanchay Post?

Sanchay Post is a LAN (Local Area Network) based application. CBS on the other hand is a centralized application with browser based interface. There is no need for servers at the post office level for running CBS. CBS will have the following features which are not available in Sanchay Post: real-time 24x7 processing capability, centralized database, av ailability of alternate channels, capture of KYC (Know Your Customer) details, adequate audit & inspection features etc.


What benefits CBS will provide?

CBS will provide the following benefits: Anytime and Anywhere banking

Standardised, simple and automated processes Technology driven products

Increase in quality of the service provided to the customers Timely and accurate information for management decision making Strong audit and internal controls Bring down the cost of transaction and thereby improving operational efficiency. Improve Service Quality Paving way for new value added services thereby generating additional revenue for the Department.

Will CBS reduce transaction costs?

Yes, implementation of CBS will reduce transaction cost as processes will become standardised, simple and automated. Also, the number of counter transactions is expected to reduce due to provision of alternate delivery channels as part of CBS. At present counter transactions cost Rs. 27 for India Post

Will it improve service delivery?

Yes, implementation of CBS will improve service delivery since facilities like Anytime and Anywhere banking would be provided besides standardised and automated processes. The time taken for transactions will be reduced by providing services through alternate channels on 24 x 7 basis – ATM, Internet, Phone, SMS and Mobile Banking by facilitating transfer of money through NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer) or RTGS (Real time Gross

Settlement System)



What are the alternate service channels planned?

The following alternate channels are to be provided:

ATM Banking

Internet Banking

Phone Banking (IVR)/ Banking through call centre

Mobile Banking

SMS Banking - tracking and alerts



What is Rural ICT project? How is this integrated with core banking?

The Rural ICT solution will computerise the rural Post Offices and provide integrated and affordable electronic services at the Branch post office level.

In the Rural ICT project, the vendor will be responsible for development of core application platform; development of MGNREGS application and expansion of already existing electronic Money Order (eMO) application for RICT Hardware Devices; development of a central MGNREGS database; Integration with overall India Post 2012 solution architecture and other core applications such as Mail Operations, Core Banking Solution, Postal Life Insurance and solution deployment of the complete Rural ICT solution to approximately 1.30 lakh branch post offices.

What are the objectives of CBS project?

The key objectives are as below:

To increase the number of customers from existing 20 crore to 35 crore by 2012 To provide multiple delivery channels like internet, mobile banking, ATMs, thereby bringing access to financial services to the doorsteps of the customers To enable faster money remittances and fund transfers and increase volumes to capture a 50% market share by 2014

What are the objectives of going for ATMs?

Prime objective for installing ATMs is convenience to savings bank customers of the Department of Post. The other objectives are enhancing the brand value of DoP, faster service delivery and reduction in transaction costs. These are detailed below:

Improving Service Quality : ATMs of post offices will provide 24 x 7 banking environment to our customers enabling withdrawals and other facilities with convenience and certainty. Reducing Costs : ATMs will reduce our cost of transaction to Rs. 10 -14 compared to our cost of counter transactions of Rs. 27. The present cost incurred is not a right comparison as the present service provided is for a five hours business time and not for 24 hours.

Enhancing brand value : ATMs will be the face of this IT transformation of Indiapost and it is necessary to exploit it for enhancing the brand value of Indiapost.

Improving revenues : ATMs could be a potential revenue earner for us as more usage of our ATMs by other bank customers will bring us revenues.

How many ATMs are planned?

Approximately 1,000 ATMs are planned as part of this India Post 2012 project