SBI launches Yono 2.0, hiring 10,000 staff to help customers migrate to digital channel

Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) The country's largest lender, SBI, has embarked on a focused project to help its customers visiting branches migrate to cost-efficient digital banking channels, a top official said on Monday.

Speaking at the launch of a new version of its Yono app, bank chairman C S Setty said the bank has begun an initiative in which dedicated executives or floor managers help customers migrate to the digital channel, which is also very convenient for them.

"We already have 3,500 executives in branches to help the customers and will take it to 10,000 by March 31, 2026," Setty told reporters here.

Setty said a subsidiary company is taking care of the project and undertaking the fresh hiring of staff for the purpose, he said.

The bank's chairman said the bank aims to take on payment biggies like Google Pay and PhonePe with the new version of Yono 2.0 and added that the version working across mobile, tablets and also desktops can be used by other banks' customers as well.

At present, 9.60 crore of SBI's over 50 crore customers use Yono, and the bank is targeting to have 20 crore customers on the platform, Setty said.

The revamped app allows SBI to acquire a customer at a tenth of the cost, Setty said, adding that with the new version, it aims to do 90 per cent of the 70,000 daily account openings using Yono.

All existing Yono users will gradually receive updates, and within a specified time, everyone will be on the new version in a seamless way, Setty said.

Setty said that at the moment, there are no monetisation plans for the Yono franchise. PTI AA MR