Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah Launches ‘Bank in a Box’ and Security Operations Centre for Urban Cooperative Banks

Key facts

• Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched ‘Bank in a Box’ and the Security Operations Centre under the National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) at the ‘Sahkar Nav-Kranti’ programme at the BSE International Convention Centre in Mumbai.
• The Umbrella Organisation for Urban Cooperative Banks has become a reality with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recognition, adequate capital and a new office.
• The ‘Bank in a Box’ platform provides Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) core banking, digital payments, cloud services, regulatory compliance and other modern banking facilities through a single integrated platform.
• The Security Operations Centre will provide round-the-clock cyber monitoring and security support to UCBs.
• NUCFDC signed an MoU with the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) for cybersecurity, digital forensics, employee training and research capabilities at affordable cost.
• Amit Shah urged all 1,400 Urban Cooperative Banks to join the Umbrella Organisation and its Security Operations Centre, and called for membership fees to be linked to the number of branches so small and single-branch banks can participate.
• Around 650 Urban Cooperative Banks have joined the Umbrella Organisation, and Amit Shah called for 100% membership within one year.
• The NUCFDC headquarters will be shifted from Delhi to Maharashtra, which has the highest number of Urban Cooperative Banks in India at 449.
• Collective procurement of software, technology and related services through NUCFDC will reduce costs for smaller banks.
• Reforms announced include RBI permission for UCBs to expand branches by up to 15% without separate approval, doorstep banking, simplified scheduled-bank status access for eligible Tier-3 UCBs, lower Priority Sector Lending requirements, enhanced housing-loan limits and extension of the One-Time Settlement facility.