EASE Index Report

The BCG-IBA report EASE Reforms for Public Sector Banks measures the performance of each PSB on 140 objective metrics across 6 themes. The 6 themes are:

• Customer Responsiveness: EASE for customer comfort
• Responsible Banking: Financial stability, governance for ensuring outcomes, and EASE for clean & commercially prudent business
• Credit Off-take: EASE for the borrower and proactive delivery of credit
• PSBs as UdyamiMitra: EASE of financing and bill discounting for MSMEs
• Deepening Financial Inclusion & Digitalisation: EASE through near-home banking, microinsurance and digitalisation
• Ensuring outcomes – HR: Developing personnel for Brand PSB.

Findings of the Report

• Punjab National Bank has been ranked first among public sector banks in the implementation of ‘reforms agenda’, followed by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India.
• Punjab National Bank with a score of 78.4 out of 100 has been ranked first under the theme of EASE (Enhanced Access & Service Excellence). PNB is followed by BoB (77.8), SBI (74.6), Oriental Bank of Commerce (69), Canara Bank (67.5) and Syndicate Bank (67.1).
• The six Public sector banks which are under PCA framework of the RBI have also been ranked under the Index. The performance of PSBs is as shown Indian Overseas Bank (66.7), UCO Bank (64.1), United Bank of India (60.8), IDBI Bank (60.2), Central Bank of India (55.7) and Dena Bank (53.8).

The government had announced in January 2018 that the government would come out with EASE -Index for ranking of banks aimed at increasing the public accountability of PSBs as independent agencies evaluate and rank PSBs annually on reforms.
The report has been commissioned through Indian Banks’ Association and authored by BCG with Forrester Inc., Kantar IMRB and TransUnion CIBIL as knowledge partners.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2019