Effectiveness of Digital Banking Services and YONO Internet Banking: Customer Perceptions and Usage Patterns among SBI Account Holders in Hyderabad, Telangana

This study examined the effectiveness of digital banking services and YONO Internet Banking among 150 SBI account holders in Hyderabad, Telangana. The investigation yielded the following key findings: •  Digital banking adoption in Hyderabad is overwhelmingly dominated by the youth demographic (18–30 years, 85.3%), with private sector employees constituting the largest user group. •  Google Pay is the most preferred UPI application (43.3%), reflecting the importance of user experience and brand recognition over cost in platform selection. •  Customer perceptions of digital banking ease of use (85% positive), safety (89% positive), and 24-hour availability (83% positive) are strongly favourable, validating the YONO platform's service design objectives. •  Transaction failure with amount deduction (30.7%), connectivity issues (24.0%), server downtime (23.7%), and network unavailability (27.3%) are the primary technical challenges undermining customer experience. •  Customer satisfaction with grievance redressal is high (85% strongly agree that banks provide immediate solutions), indicating effective customer support mechanisms despite infrastructure challenges. These findings carry significant theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the study provides empirical support for the applicability of the TAM framework to digital banking in an emerging economy context, while also highlighting the role of infrastructure reliability as a post-adoption satisfaction determinant — an aspect that TAM in its original form does not adequately capture. Practically, the study recommends that SBI invest in scalable server infrastructure to eliminate transaction failures, particularly during peak periods; develop targeted digital literacy programmes for customers above 35 years of age; enhance BHIM integration within YONO to promote government-supported payment channels; and proactively communicate customer rights under the RBI's failed transaction compensation framework. For the RBI and NPCI, the findings suggest that minimum service reliability standards for digital banking platforms should be mandated and monitored as part of the regulatory framework. Future research may extend this study using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to establish causal relationships between service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction, or employ panel data methods to track changes in usage behaviour over time. Comparative studies across different cities and bank types (public vs. private) would further enrich the understanding of digital banking effectiveness in India's diverse socioeconomic landscape. Additionally, the growing importance of artificial intelligence and open banking APIs in the Indian fintech ecosystem presents fertile ground for future empirical investigation.

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