Moving toward Bank 4.0 in India: a qualitative thematic analysis and future research agenda

Purpose The banking sector is more revolutionized than ever, with advanced technologies driving a seismic change in the financial industry. This study aims to understand how digital technologies influence banking sector employees and their perception of working in an era of Banking 4.0. Design/methodology/approach This study incorporated qualitative analysis to gain different insights from diverse respondents from banking industries. A purposive sampling method was adopted, and semistructured interviews were conducted, taking a sample of 72 respondents. All the transcripts were then analyzed using NVivo. Findings The findings focus on challenges related to understanding technology phenomena, managing changes, infrastructure, skills, competitiveness and regulatory mechanisms. This is further followed by the favorable impact of Banking 4.0 on employees and future avenues, such as innovation in financial services, work productivity, career opportunities and change management, banking 4.0 and banking 5.0, and banking 4.0 management strategies identified as the significant findings. Practical implications This study provides guidelines for Banking 4.0 provision strategy and conceptual reference toward the development of Banking 4.0. It also supports the Enhanced Access and Service Excellence 4.0 program, driven by the Indian Bank’s Association, to focus more on digitization, automation and data analytics. Originality/value The novelty of this research provides a qualitative hierarchy of significant challenges, favorable impacts and future research avenues of Banking 4.0 in the Indian banking sector.