Though banks are back to normal operations

　　The above article is part of a series of demonetisation stories leading up to November 8) Perennially reeling under the burden of bad loans, they seemed to have got a respite even as their customers had to go through wrenching pain.Banks have also seen a surge in the demand for debit and credit cards, online transactions and fund transfers through RTGS and digital payments.Though banks are back to normal operations, economic slowdown, poor credit off-take and dwindling business of their customers after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime came into being on July 1 have made them pause over their gains from the note ban.With hundreds of ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) running out of cash or remaining dry for days and weeks, banks faced customers wrath due to cash crunch even in lesser denomination notes of Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 or Rs 10.

　　The rush for depositing banned notes less than Rs 50,000 at a time was more and frequent than for withdrawals, as many customers were wary of giving the mandatory PAN number or filling Form 60 fearing they would be questioned by tax officials later on the source of their money, pointed out the manager.

　　Demonetisation was a blessing in disguise for us, as the number of new accounts has gone up 25 per cent over the months and 40 per cent of our customers have switched over to inteet or mobile banking, reducing their visits to the bank for cash or other transactions, State Bank of India (SBI) senior manager S.The demonetisation also led to a dramatic spike in deposits of the banned notes by the existing and new customers during the 50-day window, while withdrawals were stymied by the embroidery machines Wholesalers cash crunch.But it was not without pain for the banking sector.