Context (PIB): A year-end recap of Department of Financial Services (Ministry of Finance) initiatives was released.
Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE) Reforms
The EASE Reforms are governed by the EASE Steering Committee of the Indian Bank’s Association.
Gyan Sangam – 2016 and PSB Manthan- 2017 inspired the EASE reform.
EASE Awards are given to banks for annual performance in the EASE Agenda.
PSB Manthan 2.0 (2022) resulted in the launch of the EASENext program.
EASE 6.0 (FY24) targets digital enablement, analytical operations, and Tech-enabled capability building.
Indian Banks’ Association (IBA)
IBA was formed in 1946.
Members: Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks having offices in India, Co-operative Banks, Regional Rural Banks and All India Financial Institutions.
UPI related initiatives
E-RUPI: Person- and purpose-specific voucher management system to enable direct benefit transfer.
123 Pay: UPI for feature phone users, available in 20 languages.
Credit Line on UPI: Enables pre-sanctioned credit lines from banks via UPI.
Hello! UPI: An AI-voice-enabled payment feature built by Bhashini (under MeitY) and NPCI allows users to make conversation-based UPI transactions in Hindi and English using feature phones and smartphones.
UPI LITE X: Addresses challenges of remote areas by enabling offline UPI payments.