- Banks are redeploying staff as routine transactions shift to digital channels
- SBI is training branch employees for sales and upselling roles
- HDFC Bank is shifting capacity from backend to customer-facing roles
As routine transactions shift online, banks are finding new uses for the employees who once handled them. At SBI, some branch staff are being moved towards sales and upselling. HDFC Bank is shifting capacity towards customer-facing roles, while Axis Bank is using technology to help employees identify opportunities to sell more products.
It is also changing what banks expect employees to do with the capacity created by digital adoption — from selling financial products to engaging with customers and identifying cross-sell opportunities.
The Shift
SBI flagged the change in its Q4 FY26 earnings call, saying a large number of transactions had moved to alternate channels.
"We are redeploying some of the workforce into sales and training our workforce in the branches for upselling," SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty said during the bank's earnings call.
The bank said 66% of new savings accounts originated through Yono in FY26. The new version of Yono crossed four crore registrations within three months of launch, taking total users to around 10 crore.
HDFC's Move
HDFC Bank is moving capacity from the back end to customer-facing roles as technology reduces the time and capacity needed for some processes.
The bank said its focus on customer service and technology should reduce turnaround times and the capacity required at the back end. It plans to move that capacity to the front end, where employees can engage with customers and generate business.
"The capacity in the backend ... will be move to the front end," HDFC Bank management said, adding that the move would release capacity at the customer-facing end to engage with customers and generate business momentum.
Axis's Tools
Axis Bank is using technology to support employees in customer interactions.
Its Siddhi platform gives more than 90,000 employees real-time insights and personalised recommendations. The platform has more than 30 cross-sell journeys across deposits, cards, loans, investments and remittances.
Axis said it had observed an approximately 30% uplift in key metrics including term-deposit bookings, mutual-fund transactions and credit-card sales.
ALSO READ: Axis Bank Signals More Scope For Workforce Reduction After 3,100 Employee Decline In FY26
Digital Shift
The shift in employee roles comes as routine banking moves further online. Punjab National Bank said more than 95% of customer transactions are now digital, while every second loan is being sanctioned through its digital channel.
SBI is moving some staff towards sales and upselling, HDFC Bank is moving capacity towards customer-facing roles, and Axis Bank is giving employees technology-enabled customer insights and recommendations.
For bank employees, that means the work done inside branches is changing as customers increasingly handle routine transactions themselves. At SBI, that means more emphasis on sales and upselling. At HDFC Bank, it means shifting capacity towards customers. At Axis Bank, technology is being used to help employees make those interactions more productive.
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