Dear All, Greetings from Blind Graduates Forum of India (BGFI)!
Considering the large requests which we have been getting from people who could not attend this session, we are happy to share the Minutes of the Open House Discussion for Potential & Existing Bankers which was held in November 2014. BLIND GRADUATES FORUM OF INDIA Date - Saturday, 29th November 2014 Venue: XRCVC, St. Xavier's College. Minutes - Open House Discussion on Banking Note: participants list is omitted for privacy protection. Issues/Concerns of the VI Banker or VI Customer list of 7 items 1. List of Issues faced by Customer at ground level list of 5 items * Non issuance of ATM Cards to the VI account holders * Locker facility either not provided or provided to the VI account holder on signing an indemnity form * Cheque book facility not provided to VI account holder * Certain banks open only joint account for a VI individual (e.g. Union Bank Fort Branch) * Filling up of pay-in-slip or other forms not possible for a VI and sometimes bank employees are not forthcoming list end nesting level 1 2. Lack of awareness of Branch Managers and staff at the branches w.r.t. facilities that are available especially for the VI. Also the list of these facilities should be made available to the VI customers too so that they can request for the same without relying on the bank branch to provide such information. list end list of 1 items 3. Each bank should have an accessibility cell having VI bankers as the members ensuring that the rights and needs of the other VI bankers and VI customers are met with list end list of 1 items 4. Internet and Intranet sites of the bank should be accessible to the VI person. For most banks, the sites are not accessible at all. And for some bank where the sites are made accessible, it is not up to the mark e.g. when an image is encountered, the site just says picture but does not indicate the name of the image, or sometimes it just says button but not the name of the button - so here there are issues with labelling. Preferably, if these sites have an option to submit a technical fault w.r.t the site, then these issues can be highlighted to the bank. list end list of 1 items 5. In most banks, VI customers using thumb impression are denied most of the facilities like cheques, ATM cards, etc. Also for bank that provide cheque facilities, cheques get bounced quite often since the thumb impression on the cheque is smudged or not verifiable. Need an adequate solution for this list end list of 1 items 6. Transactions using biometrics at the branch level need to be initiated for branch level transactions e.g. to operate lockers, fund transfers, new cheque book issuance, debit/credit card issuances, etc. where signatures are needed. This will be beneficial not only for VI but also for elderly and orthopedically challenged persons who are not able to sign or illiterate customers. list end list of 1 items 7. Talking ATMs to be provided by all banks - need a deadline for this. Also old ATMs should be replaced with talking ATMs list end list of 1 items 8. Ramps for orthopedically challenged individuals for easy accessibility to the branches and ATMs list end list of 1 items 9. Induction training given to all bank employees should include a topic on accessibility to disabled customers. list end list of 1 items 10. Passbook printing - the VI banker has to rely on the customer providing the correct account number for the passbook printing. Also if a big bunch of passbooks are provided then the VI banker will not be able to process the same till someone reads the account numbers. Possible solution - using bar code for the account number with an accessible bar code reader - this will be useful for all the bankers (not just VI bankers) since this will reduce clerical errors when typing out the account number. list end list of 1 items 11. Bank managers are not aware what work can be given to the VI employees. list end list of 1 items 12. Accessibilities issues with the core banking software used in the banks. Lot of workarounds need to be used and the same is documented unofficially. Such documentation should be available with the banks too and should be proactively provides to the VI bankers. list end Detailed Discussion of profiles available at the banks - Mr. Rahul Gambhir Profiles at the Branches Clerical Level - Printing Passbook - Customer Service Provider (interacting with customers and provide information on products) - Enquiring and listening to the needs of the customers and guiding them as to where and how they can avail the service - Handing them over required forms - Providing information about service charges - Marketing of bank products, cross selling - Educating customers about alternative channels of banking Officer Level - Promoting Alternative Channels, Mobile banking/SMS banking, Explaining to customers about the benefits of mobile banking - Answering the e-mails and Sending the forms through e-mail. - Printing statements of loan accounts and deposit accounts which can be handed over to customers - Calculating EMI for the amount of loan required by the customer - Provide information about the status of cheques presented for collection - Sending e-mails to existing and new customers about new products of bank - General office work like typing letters, maintaining database in excel sheets, etc. - Generating MIS Reports Credit processing cells like RAB - Information dissemination about retail lending schemes - Providing information to branches and customers about the status of loan proposals - Providing information to customers about the balance of their loan accounts they can withdraw and stages at which they can do the same Loan Recovery - Checking the NPAs of branches in the purview of the credit processing cell - checking the same by seeing the balances of respective customers' loan accounts - Informing customers about the status of their default and consequences of continuation of the same - Sending letters to defaulters by using MS office tools like mail merge - Sending e-mails to defaulters to help them to make the regular. - Generating periodical reports to assist the officers on the field - Follow up of BC letters and managing Preventive Monitoring System. Non-Financial Transactions at the bank - Passbook Entry - Balance Inquiry - Statement generation (specially corporate accounts) - Manning the helpdesk or board line of the branch - Information of various third party products (e.g. insurance products affiliated with the bank) - Issuance of TDS Certificate typically during year end - Coordinating with the various AMC vendors for various electronics gadgets, computers, etc. since the vendors are different for each of these devices Advances Team - Stock Statements from the borrowers - generating the list of borrowers sending reminders for the stock statements - Renewal and review of the advances - follow up with the list of customers where renewals are due and get the Balance Sheets from them - Generating the list of NPA where the stock statements or renewals are not done on the specified time and doing the respective follow up Profiles at the Regional Offices General Profiles at Administrative Offices Clerical Level - Taking dictations and handling correspondence - Preparing Statements and reports in Excel - Telephonic Follow up Officer Level - Informing branches about any reconciliation work to be done at their end over phone and following it up - Handling Correspondence - Working with databases using MS excel - Secretaries to middle and top level managers - Follow up with branches about the works assigned by the Senior Officers to branches - Generation of periodical reports thereby assisting senior managers - Addressing customer complaints about branches - Taking care of the Staff affairs using HRMS Application and the site of E Circulars - Visually impaired Staff can be made a member of the ATM Monitoring Team Regional Office - Administrative Roles Regional Computer Center Require strong Technical skills for this department - Guiding branch staff for troubleshooting of software issues E.g. Email not working, checking, simple issues or advice on excel, word, Finacle HR Dept. - Reimbursement of expenses, sanctioning of expenses (PeopleSoft Application accessible with Jaws) - Preparation of training calendar, nomination of staff for specific training within the software itself - Updating the salary increments in the software - basically anything to do with the software - Reconciliation of actual data e.g. collection of data from branches on how many people were on strike Credit Monitoring - Rectification of accounts in excel sheets where branches need to be contacted. - Statements to be scrutinized and reconciled and sent to branches for rectification. - Also reports to be generated, scrutinized and to be sent to Central office or top management. All work to be done electronically. Planning and Development Dept. or MIS Dept. - Packages already on the MIS server and yearly data can be easily generated and the planning for the next year can be done based on the existing data and bank objectives. E.g. Target to be set for branches for deposits. So the data for the previous year could be got from the server and the requisite target can be determined and sent to the branches. Enable India, Bangalore Update list of 6 items * Working with SBI since 2011 to enable qualitative working environment for the disabled persons i.e. VI, HI and anyone with severe disability * Provides customised training for the VI and HI and any other sever disability employees for the South Zone currently. * Training planed and conducted typically for 20-25 people per batch and last for about 4 weeks. Training includes skill advancement, computer skills and banking knowledge. * Training includes technical training (i.e. operating a computer and bank applications). * Web site - www.enable-india.org * Computer Training Material is available for free download on this website list end Update from Rajesh Asudani list of 3 items * Discussed about VIBEWA - Visually Impaired Bank Employee Welfare Association - a national platform where bankers can meet online and discuss issues or share information and achievements with a view to empower VI across the Banking, Finance and Insurance sectors. * More than 100 members currently and strongly urge the VI Bankers to register to this site. * Website - www.vibewa.org for online registration and can be contacted at communicat...@vibewa.org list end We once again thank you and everyone else who was involved in this session for their enthusiasm and participation. Regards, The BGFI Team Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
