Introduction
SBI is the largest bank on UPI by accounts, which means a huge share of India's UPI payments are debited from SBI accounts. Yet most of those payments are started in PhonePe or Google Pay, which together process close to 80% of UPI volume. SBI's own UPI app, BHIM SBI Pay, holds a very small share of transactions, even though it has added features such as tap-and-pay. The bank carries the cost of the account and the payment infrastructure, while third-party apps own the daily habit and the data. The prompt asks how we would improve BHIM SBI Pay so that SBI customers choose it for everyday payments. I'll clarify the goal, segment users, map their pain points, generate and prioritise solutions, and define how we would measure progress.
Do not propose "copy PhonePe". Interviewers want to hear why someone would switch from a habit they already have. The answer has to rest on something only the customer's own bank can offer.
Step 1
Clarifying Questions (5 mins)
Why it matters: SBI now offers UPI in YONO 2.0 too, so two SBI apps could compete for the same user. Expected answer: Grow SBI-owned UPI transactions; BHIM SBI Pay remains the lightweight, payments-only app for people who do not want a full banking app. Impact on approach: Improvements should complement YONO rather than duplicate it.
Why it matters: Payments themselves earn little because UPI is mostly zero-MDR. Expected answer: Monthly transacting users, with downstream value from credit on UPI, deposits and cross-sell. Impact on approach: We optimise for habit, then for monetisable features.
Expected answer: Mostly older SBI customers and those who were onboarded at branches; low usage among under-30s. Impact on approach: We need both a retention fix for current users and a reason for younger users to try it.
Expected answer: NPCI rules on market share caps, RBI security norms, and a limited marketing budget compared with big tech.
Practice similar questions
Subscribe to access the full answer
.png){kind=logo}
