Embracing the Digital

Embracing the Digital… To Become More Human!

Want to know how to open an account with Federal Bank without having to visit any of its branches? Or how to generate your Account Statements & Interest Certificates if you are an existing customer? All you have to do is ask Feddy. Or, you can simply get Alexa to ask for you! Such is the power of our Digital-Human interface, which we scaled multifold during the pandemic.

From being the buzzword for new-age business models, digital became the new imperative for every business during FY 2020-21. With business continuity as emerging the biggest challenge amid the COVID-19 pandemic, India’s banking system moved fast to embrace a new scale of digitalisation, while ensuring that it stayed connected with customers through these testing times.

At Federal Bank, we were quick to put our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) into action in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic outbreak. We expanded the ambit of our digital-human framework to make it more relevant to the times, and deliver effectively on our promise of ensuring a safe transition to the new work culture.

We swiftly adapted to the transformed external eco-system through targeted initiatives aimed at enhancing the digital outreach for our customers, employees and our IT infrastructure.

We facilitated the digital migration of our Corporate Customers, across categories:

FedCorp was used to identify and hand-hold small enterprises, such as proprietorships & partnerships
FedMobile is available for individual users (not for enterprises) to enhance drive enhanced user-engagement and drive next-level mobile banking experience. We have made the app available for New-To-Bank(NTB) customers to help them make payments on the go!
FedNet helped in the digital migration of medium enterprises (private limited companies & small public limited companies)
Fed-E-Biz, our more evolved and complex digital tool, was deployed to steer the migration of corporate & institutional banking customers
We have appointed Digital Banking Ambassadors in major cities for smooth migration of our corporate customers to the new digital transaction norms.

To bring about the cultural / mindset transformation needed for the adaptation of employees to the new work normal, we:

Empowered our employees with digital tools and trained managers to supervise their digital transformation for a plain sailing work from home experience.
Got an external audit done in May 2020 for identifying gaps in data security/protection, and quickly implemented the recommendations
Formalised the Work from Anywhere Policy through Board approval
Introduced structured online employee and managerial training modules, along with welfare initiatives

We strengthened our Information Technology (IT) and digital structures through:

Augmentation of the operational capabilities of our teams
Early risk identification to provide back-ups in case of any gaps in the IT systems/processes/teams

Making a Mark

Our Credit Card, launched for the internal CUG Team in March 2021, is India’s first-of-its-kind complete digital card. The card, which we have since expanded to cater to our existing customers, is issued and activated through a 3-click process. The virtual card is delivered to the applicant through FedMobile within seconds, followed by physical card.

FEDDY gets ‘cooler’

We added some more cool features during the pandemic to Feddy, our AI-powered Virtual Personal Assistant. Feddy is equipped with state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to answer all banking queries of customers on the go, 24x7. Accessible via Alexa, Google Assistant, Corporate Website and WhatsApp, Feddy can also be searched through Google Maps and Google Search. Besides providing a host of bank-related information, Feddy also has a lighter side to it – it is always ready to cheer up the customer with a joke or two. All you need to do is ask!

And there’s more…

Besides Feddy, Federal Bank’s digital sweep encompasses many other unique initiatives, including facial recognition for employees, blockchain technology-based solutions for remittances, video-based KYC solutions. Equipped with more user-friendly and advanced features, our revamped FedMobile provided end-to-end solution to customers during these pandemic times.

During FY 2020-21, we also upgraded various digital platforms, such as FedNet, Lotza and FedBook (for retail customers); FedCorp, Corporate FedNet, Paylite and Fed-E-Biz (for corporate and SME customers). These upgradations led to enhanced experience and security for our customers.

Our pioneering GoNoGo solution allows Tab Banking for auto loans.

In keeping with its mantra of ‘Digital at the fore, Human at the core’, the Bank has ensured that customers who needed to visit the Bank personally, amid COVID-related curbs, did not have to wait outside for their turn. FedSwagat allows them to secure a web appointment, with the reference number delivered via SMS facility.

We are enhancing our investments in API banking, working closely with our existing and new Fintech partners to give an enhanced digital experience to our customers. With IT emerging as an enabler to make the Bank more digitally empowered, we are also moving some of our apps to Cloud architecture. We have set up a Centre of Excellence for RPA (Robotic Process Automation) transformations to boost ease of transactions and enable better engagement for customers.

With the pandemic necessitating new ways of marketing, we are now promoting our products through an array of engaging digital and social media campaigns, while also using traditional avenues such as Radio Campaigns for certain products like Gold Loans.