In effect, it has become the key to servicing all customer segments – offering convenience to retail customer, corporates and government clients. The increasing sophistication, flexibility and complexity of products and servicing offerings makes the effective use of technology critical for managing the risks associated with banking business. However, the ‘technological penetration’ in India has been quite modest.
According to data reported in the World Development Indicators database, as of 2002, the number of computers per 1000 persons was about 7 in India compared to anywhere between 70-500 in most emerging markets and even higher in most developed 7 economies.