The financial sector, and the banking industry in particular, was one of the first to make use of information technology, said G Padmanabhan, an executive director at the Reserve Bank of India, at a conference for chief technology officers on December 17.

Citing payment systems as an example, Padmanabhan said technology had led to a sea change. "Until the 1990s, one could make payments in this country through two predominant means – cash and cheque. Today, a tech-savvy customer is empowered to