By Molly Cyrus 
Introduction
The digital age thus transformed our very lifestyle in the way we live in the way we work and in the way we manage our finances. Fast evolution in technology such as the internet and smartphones is transforming traditional banking into seamless digital experiences. Thus the very notion of traditional banking is confined within the walls of a branch banking has transformed into a real time 24/7 service always at one’s fingertips.
This move shifts banking from physical to digital banking which improves the comfort of financial transactions and reduces operational costs while increasing the value of customer experience. This has brought banking services to millions of people through some branches delinked from a few scattered branches that even many farflung underbanked regions were covered with.
Digital banking has enlarged its horizon beyond mere online transactions today. It encompasses a whole gamut of services such as instant loans investments bill payments shopping and lifestyle services like insurance. This has empowered consumers to manage their finances much better at their convenience.
About SBI and YONO
SBI is India’s largest public sector bank and has been one of the key stalwarts of Indian banking landscape since its early years of operation in this century. With an immense network of branches all over the country and diverse customer bases SBI has been instrumental in making India’s financial ecosystem.
However to address the growing demand for digital banking solutions and with the emergence of fintech companies that provide frictionless financial services SBI launched YONO or You Only Need One in November 2017. YONO was envisioned as a disruptive digital platform that would integrate a large set of services under one roof. This was not just an application for banking but an all in one solution for managing financial requirements shopping investments insurance and lifestyle needs under one umbrella.
With the help of YONO it is possible to achieve the overall goal of reaching both the savvier generation of digital consumers and the underpenetrated population with easier access and processes to financial services.
Purpose of YONO SBI
The key objective of developing YONO was to ensure the address of all customer requirements within a single application all for banking and financial services shopping entertainment and investments. With more than 60 services across banking and nonbanking domains available on YONO this is by nature a multifunction platform for SBI customers. Hence YONO is a super app that enables customers to look after their financial needs and other lifestyle preferences under one roof.
Through YONO SBI has aligned itself with the vision of the Government of India regarding financial inclusion enhancing the delivery of government schemes to underserved areas and supporting the digital economy. With the most user friendly interface and inclusive range of services YONO has come to be an important element in bringing more Indians into formal banking.
Features and Services of YONO SBI
All Banking Services at One Access Point
Banking services can be accessed from one single point with YONO. It manages savings accounts transfers requests for immediate needs and bill payments or it merely checks account statements with easy consolidation of interface and makes all one’s finances. Most day to day banking tasks no longer require users to go to a bank for routine matters.
Opening savings accounts applying for loans or buying insurance policies can also be initiated through an app. Paper forms are done away with and processes regarding opening fixed deposits recurring deposits and other investment products are smoothened. These are all integrated into the app thereby giving customers a better insight into their finances.
Loans and Investments
YONO has made the cumbersome time consuming and associated process with a loan application more straightforward. Customers can apply for personal loans car loans home loans and other forms of credit through this app. In most cases the application receives instant approval. If pre approved YONO will instantly disburse loans to that customer without forcing them to fill out loads of paperwork.
On the investment side the platform gives mutual funds fixed deposits bonds and life insurance amongst others which means the users can explore and invest via the system. It equips and enables an interface to help understand the various options of investments one can put their money into and make informed decisions based on these options.
Digital Onboarding
This is the biggest challenge for a traditional bank in terms of opening new customers and entails several visits to the bank verification of documents and a lot of paperwork. But YONO made digital onboarding easier. Thus customers can open a fresh account with the use of an Aadhar and PAN card that automatically applies KYC verification.
Apart from being convenient for tech savvy urban users YONO also reaches out to rural people who need help accessing a physical bank branch. It simplifies the account opening process so that a large section of the Indian populace can access banking services more easily.
UPI and Payment Services
Unified Payments Interface or UPI has emerged in India as a revolutionary payment system wherein its users can transfer money from one account to another with the help of just their mobile phone. YONO integrates UPI and enables its customers to provide cashless payments without taking the recipient’s account information to send or receive money. This feature amongst other easeofuse aspects has garnered unprecedented popularity.
In addition YONO allows users to pay electricity water gas and other utility bills as well as tickets for airline train or movie tickets and shop online directly from the application. With UPI QR code payments and bill management YONO has become an all in one platform for daily financial transactions.
Shopping and Lifestyle Integration
YONO is unique as it is not only a platform for banking but also presents lifestyle and shopping opportunities. In alignment with major players in the country’s ecommerce marketplace such as Amazon Flipkart Myntra and travel booking portals YONO is offering its users exclusive offers and discounts. With the discounts on the site for flights hotels gadgets and fashion items YONO is posing itself more like an enabler of a lifestyle rather than a traditional banking application.
Customers can avail themselves of various products and services through the marketplace that they can use on the YONO app by using their SBI account or debit cards. Such integration in an app will thus provide users with a one stop shop for lifestyle and financial requirements.
SBI Wealth
For high networth clients YONO caters to the banks special wealth management service SBI Wealth. The services offered by SBI Wealth to its customers include portfolio management investment advisory and exclusive products. SBI Wealth clients on YONO can check portfolios investment details and customised market insights directly from their cell phones.
This service reaffirms SBIs promise of customised banking solutions for high net worth clients without sacrificing the ease and convenience for which YONO is known.
YONO SBI Technology and Infrastructure
App Interface and User Experience
The YONO app design encompasses designs that put a lot of emphasis on user experience and boasts a clean intuitive and user friendly interface. The facility allows users to access multiple languages making the YONO app accessible to all categories of users in India thus bridging the digital divide between urban and rural places.
From the time a user logs on to the app they can view a dashboard that clearly reflects their economic information services and offers. From an aesthetic point of view of course there is little doubt that the minimalist approach does reduce complexity so even new users can easily get around the application.
Artificial Intelligence and Personalization
The inclusion of Artificial Intelligence is one of the aspects that make YONO a success. It checks and analyses user data and spending patterns along with preference and gives returns according to what seems best for the individual. For instance it could suggest investing in certain things or there may be offers and discounts on shopping while predicting potential requirements and future expenditures based on past behaviour.
These machine learning models are constantly improved with the aim of providing customers with the most relevant content and services hence improving the customer experience.
Integration into Other SBI Digital Products
YONO does not operate in silos. It is highly integrated with the existing digital offerings at SBI including those like SBI Net Banking SBI Quick SBI Rewardz and so on. It thus allows access to the entire range of SBI services without needing to juggle between multiple apps or platforms.
For example suppose a customer wants to redeem SBI Rewardz points. In that case they can do so directly on the YONO interface which in fact enables seamless and harmonised digital banking experiences across the entire SBI ecosystem.
Security Features
The firm has designed YONO with robust security protocols that safeguard customer’s private information along with their financial data. YONO employs fingerprint and facial recognition methods to authenticate users giving them an adequate level of protection. Meanwhile end to end encryption is also used to ensure all communications that go on inside the app are safe from cyberattacks.
YONO has also given fraud detection systems more stringent measures than real time analytics to detect unusual transactions and flag the transactions for further analysis. Such stringent security measures have helped YONO win the trust of millions of customers in India.
Backend Infrastructure and Cloud Services
The latest cloud technology and data centres support YONOs huge evergrowing customer base. The application is designed to handle millions of transactions a day so you would experience much downtime with this application and it would also be scalable. This has helped YONO scale up its operations easily during peak periods such as holidays or major shopping festivals using cloud services.
This is the backbone of technology that makes YONO seamless fast and reliable regardless of the number of customers on the app at any point in time.
Financial Inclusion through YONO SBI
YONO and India’s Financial Inclusion Goals
YONO seeks to support the agenda of financial inclusion in India. The availability of digital banking services even in those rural and remote parts of the country brings millions of unbanked and underbanked Indians into formal financial systems.
Through Digital India and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) the Government of India has been pushing for greater financial inclusion and YONO serves as an important tool in helping realise those goals. Simplifying the access to open up a bank account and make digital payments and now providing full access to government schemes along with all other banking services YONO is gradually contributing to a more inclusive financial environment.
Making Banking Easier for the Unbanked
YONO simplifies banking experience through the easy to use interface and mobilefirst approach brings banking experience to those unfamiliar with digital technology. For those who do not have brick and mortar bank branches anywhere else in the country YONO has been a needed lifeline in helping with the management of finances.
One innovation key in this line is YONOs zero balance savings account which one can open digitally without visiting a branch. This service holds particular value for rural populations and firsttime bank users by offering them a hasslefree mode of joining the formal banking sector.
Government Schemes and Subsidies through YONO
YONO is also useful as a platform to access all government schemes and subsidies. The welfare programs beneficiaries like PMJDY Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and various other schemes can receive direct transfers into the associated YONOlinked accounts. This streamlines and ensures that no one sits in between thereby decreasing the chances of corruption besides giving the full money to the actual beneficiary.
Digitising the government’s delivery of benefits through YONO also provides transparency and accountability in the system.
YONO Cash
The most exciting feature of YONO has been YONO Cash which allows one to withdraw cash from ATMs without having a physical debit card. Using the app the customer can generate a YONO Cash code and use it to withdraw cash from SBI ATMs.
This is very useful in areas where access to ATM cards may be limited or in emergency cases where a customer may have lost their debit card. It also improves security by eliminating the possibility of card skimming and cases of fraud concerning physical cards.
YONO and Competitive Landscape
YONO comes out as a standalone in the crowded digital banking space as it brings a holistic approach. While HDFC ICICI and Axis Bank have been coming out with digital platforms under PayZapp iMobile and Axis Mobile respectively YONO has come out as a much more extensive bouquet of services compared to the mere basic banking offered by most of them. Lifestyle features like shopping travel bookings and investments form part of YONO.
The offerings of fintech competitors like Paytm Google Pay and PhonePe are more payment and basic financial service centric. What stands for YONO is the more varied features especially with the deeper integration into SBIs offerings for banking and wealth management so that customers have something of everything all in one.
Challenges and Opportunities
Despite its success story YONO continues to face much competition in the landscape of digital banking. Private banks and fintech companies will always continue investing more value added services. YONO needs to stay ahead by launching new features and breaking down customer pain points such as app crashes and delays in customer support services.
However the scope for expansion is tremendous. The potential growth lies in more Indians owning a smartphone and getting connected to the internet especially in the villages. YONO is well poised to seize a greater market share with its converged offerings of banking investment and lifestyle services a value proposition matched by very few other platforms.
Future Prospects of YONO SBI
Future of Digital Banking in India
It is a digital future for Indian banking with increasing numbers of consumers opting for mobile applications compared to conventional banking. With fintech innovation continuing digital first banking will soon be the new normal such that consumers should be given personal services and seamless transactions with round the clock accessibility.
YONO is well positioned to lead this change as it has really met the vision for what kind of services modern consumers need. Advances in AI machine learning and blockchain were not imaginable a few years ago yet they are fast gaining ground. It will be interesting to see how successful YONO might remain amid all these changes and the arrival of new technologies.
Expanding the Ecosystem from YONO
SBI will further enhance the YONO ecosystem to bring more services under its umbrella. For example more integrations with insurance healthcare international remittances and even entertainment services will be tied into it.
In years to come YONO can well become a full fledged digital platform for daily life where customers not only manage their finances but are also able to carry out activities such as booking medical consultations applying for a visa or buying international travel insurance.
User Feedback and Influence of YONO
Customer Reviews and Feedback
The critical tool to understand the impact of YONO would be user feedback. Overall YONO has received very good reviews on ease of use comprehensive features and how its in one app for both banking and lifestyle.
However the stability and prompt response of the customer support were some issues that the users highlighted. Glitches in peak time sometimes lead to slow loading or even app crashes in some apps. SBI has in turn upgraded the technical infrastructure and has started regular updates for apps.
Impact on Customer Experience
YONO has transformed banking for millions of users simply because it offers them the convenience of managing their finances investments and lifestyle services all under one app. While it makes easy entry for users to begin using the bank for the first time the complete onboarding process allows entry and helps reduce barriers in access to the bank.
YONO has been highly acclaimed for its efforts to make finance accessible and bring banking facilities to several people in distant areas which the earlier facilities denied.
YONO and Profitability of SBI
Improving profitability and growing the bottom line of SBI have been taken care of with YONO. Digitization of services and reduced dependency on brick and mortar branches have allowed it to trim down the cost of operations. The success of YONO in acquiring the younger set of customers and retaining the existing ones is bolstering the growth of SBIs retail banking business. It has added to its overall financial performance.
With further growth YONO will act as an important revenue source and customer acquisition for SBI.
Effect on the Bank Industry
YONO hasn’t been a hidden name in the banking world. It has precipitated several private banks and fintech companies to add lifestyle features AIdriven insights and digital onboarding processes to their platforms.
The YONO application has set up a new benchmark altogether for what is possible through a digital banking platform. This forces competitors to rethink their strategy and invest in technology to gain relevance in business.
Conclusion
YONO SBI is a game changer in the Indian banking industry that closes the gap created between traditional banking and the digital needs of a generation by merging those through its wide services under integrated banking investments shopping and lifestyle services. Its broad offering of a holistic experience to the user is unique in the market.
As a pioneering focus on financial inclusion embracing cutting edge technologies like AI and machine learning YONO has reframed what it truly means to bank in India.