Post offices plan to tap digital natives
CHENNAI, January 12, 2016
Department has diversified online but faces obstacles in getting youth to opt for services
Before the
month ends, the Postal Department will have taken another step towards
digitalisation of its services by introducing internet banking. But, it
still has a long way to go before ensuring the digital generation is
drawn to its services.
It has already
taken several other measures, which are expected to be attractive to
youngsters. Of the 2,340 post offices in the Chennai city region, 521
have been networked with core banking solutions so far. This would help
customers operate their accounts or carry out transactions from any
networked post office.
Though post
offices have diversified into a number of services, including e-commerce
and retail business, a chunk of its revenue comes from the postal
savings schemes. Of the Rs. 10,730 crore earned as annual revenue last
fiscal, postal savings schemes contributed to nearly Rs. 6,000 crore.
And therefore, the Department has to make these schemes attractive to
the youth.
Residents
however complain that there are already many problems that are
preventing customers from opting for postal savings services and they
need to be addressed.
S. Kuppasami, a
resident of Pattabiram, said he had to wait for five days before he got
money after maturity of recurring deposit. Sometimes, new customers
hesitate to invest due to the problem of procedural delays.
S. Rajpandian,
president of Tamil Nadu Postal Agents Welfare Association, said many
regular customers, including senior citizens and working professionals,
take up saving schemes after they are introduced to these by agents. But
now, the number of postal agents has also dwindled, and there is a need
to adopt new strategies to reach out to people, especially the digital
generation.
As of now, youngsters opt for schemes like national savings certificate to get tax deductions.
“Postal saving
schemes provide a better interest rate than banks. But, only 30-40 per
cent of the youngsters opt for saving schemes,” he said.
Following a dip in earnings from commissions, many agents have diversified into other professions.
“Only 1,000
agents still continue to promote postal schemes along with others. We
expect core banking solutions to simplify the process as customers can
operate or close accounts from any of the CBS post offices,” he added.
Department
officials have started campaigning in schools to inculcate thrift.
However, the Department is yet to gain access to manufacturing companies
or IT companies for such campaigns.
Mervin
Alexander, Postmaster General (Chennai City Region), said: “We write to
government departments about schemes and plan to extend the campaign to
college students. There has been an increase by 5 per cent in customers
opting for saving schemes this year. We expect more youngsters to use
post offices once internet banking is launched for, it offers a feature
that will enable them to open deposit accounts and transfer money. We
will take measures to rectify delays.”
Source : http://www.thehindu.com/news
