Professional Documents
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Promote efficiency of
local banking system.
To bring in
sophisticated financial
services and risk-
management
methodologies.
Local incorporation
is more desirable.
cognizant 20-20 insights
8
ahead with its proposed banking sector reforms,
and if it announces new guidelines for foreign
banks operating in India. Here is a look at some
of the business opportunities for consulting frms
in the Indian banking space. The opportunities
primarily apply to foreign banks. However, the
same may also be applied to other new banks
looking to enter the Indian market.
Defning Operational Processes, Listing Key
Requirements
It is essential that foreign banks planning
to enter the Indian market have a thorough
understanding of the Indian banking sector.
Apart from the rules, regulations and guide-
lines defned by the regulator, new entrants
have to gain knowledge about the products
and services they need to offer, the business
and IT processes that must be in place, and
the staffng required to set up and operate a
branch. Gaining this level of knowledge within
the short span of time when the banking
license is valid is a tough task.
Consulting frms with experience and expertise
in the banking domain and similar projects can
help develop a strategy and a set of require-
ments for new banks looking to start opera-
tions in India. These requirements can include
functions such as cash management; teller
management; account and deposit manage-
ment; lending; payments; clearing; and trade
fnance, for example. Within these systems,
services encompass inward/outward clearing;
withdrawals; account opening/closure; export
collection; and inward/outward remittances,
among others. Qualifed consulting frms can
also offer research and fndings based on peer
banks best practices and actual regulatory
reporting requirements.
Business Process Consulting
Foreign banks that seek to enter Indian mar-
kets carry the legacy of business processes
followed in their home markets or in other
geographies in which they operate. However,
those processes may not be suitable for the
Indian market. New entrants can make use
of business process consulting to design or
restructure their processes to help cut costs,
improve productivity, lower turnaround time
and enhance customer service, for example.
Banks can use these services to document
processes for training and reference, and to
identify gaps.
Business process consultants can also help
banks design or modify business processes
related to banking functions, including retail
banking, corporate banking and private bank-
ing. Existing process repositories can be used
to showcase domain expertise, which can
be used as the building blocks for a banks
specifc processes.
Internal Process Consulting
In addition to business processes, a quali-
fed consulting frm can offer banks entering
India's banking market internal process con-
sulting, which focuses on processes carried
out by the banks in-house departments,
such as fnance, human resources and legal.
These consulting services are geared to for-
eign banks, and address local requirements as
well as industry best practices.
Selecting a Core Banking Product
With multiple core banking solutions (CBSs)
on the market, and considering banks unique
requirements, selecting the right one becomes
critical. A foreign bank entering the Indian
market may look to implement its existing
CBS. However, determining whether this solu-
tion is appropriate locally, and whether it
provides support for local regulatory report-
ing can only be determined after a detailed
gap analysis a task ideally suited to con-
sulting frms with experience in core banking
product selection and implementation.
Selecting a core banking product should
consider the following: