Government banks are late to the cross-selling game, says former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar

Rajnish Kumar, chairman of BharatPe, said that state-owned banks started looking at cross-selling much later than private sector banks.

Cross-selling is when a bank offers additional products or services to its existing customers. For example, a bank might offer a customer a credit card if they already have a checking account with the bank.

Kumar said that private sector banks were the first to start cross-selling. They realized that they could make more money by offering their customers more products and services.

Public sector banks were slower to adopt cross-selling. They were more focused on traditional banking activities, such as lending money and providing deposits.

However, Kumar said that public sector banks are now starting to look at cross-selling more seriously. This is because they are under pressure to increase their profits.

Kumar also said that the nature of pressure on bankers has changed. In the past, bankers were under pressure to settle their books every week. Now, they are under pressure to cross-sell products and services to their customers.

He said that cross-selling and digital lending are two areas where banks are looking for new revenue streams. This is because the regulators and the law leave little scope to get revenue out of payments.

Overall, Kumar said that cross-selling is an important strategy for banks to adopt in order to grow their businesses. It is a way to offer customers more products and services, and to increase profits.