Slow Infusion of Information Technology in Master Bank of Pakistan - A Case Study

E-Banking is now a well know phenomenon in the industry and amongst the banking users in Pakistan. This paper addresses the issues encountered and lessons derived by largest Pakistani bank while developing its e-banking capabilities. The paper explores some burning issues hindering key decisions of shifting to e-banking, e-banking delivery channel choice, enticing customers, and managing e-channel conflict to be made by bank. The findings indicated that the obstacles related to e banking customer location, customer satisfaction and the Bank’s software’s and communication infrastructure capabilities are influential factors in motivating the decision for shifting to a high-tech bank. The bank's E-channel choice is influenced by competence of application and software technologies that the bank acquires and the nature of diffusion of information and communications among its stakeholders. Technological development in Banking practices and awareness in customers due to presence of foreign and domestic banks in Pakistani financial market influenced the Master Bank to switch over to complete automated banking system. The sophistication of ebanking services and the further rapid improvement appears to influence strategies to entice E-channel conflict issues. The paper concludes by suggesting the Bank to optimally utilize its resources by deploying efficient applications and software’s and third party alliances and partnerships required to offer customized technology enabled banking services and develop appropriate e-banking risk mitigation strategies that bring the bank into a win-win position.


Introduction
The information system has three ingredients. Firstly the essential tools (Hardware) as property, secondly the information enclosed in the structure (software) and finally the terminology that enables the user to get access of this information (Instructions); so this information management joins the business management with computer sciences, we live in the era of advanced technology and we find that many business organizations are totally reliant on the information technology in its business administration, because of the good use of information technology all the stake holders get benefits from it as this information and communication system saves an organization's time , efforts and money (AL-Rawashdeh, Abu-Errub, Areiqat, & Dbbaghieh, 2012). The information technology has brought revolution in the banking industry through Ebanking, E-payments, security investments and information exchange (Berger, 2003). Now banks can provide more assorted services to its customers with less human capital, by looking at this pattern its seems that information technology can equally influence the profitability of the banking industry (Ho & Mallick, 2010).

Strategic Importance of IT in organizational Decision Making:
Information technology is playing a vital role in driving development and growth, promoting modernization and developing competitavness; it is need of the era to infuse the latest technology in any envioment to compete with the increasing global enviorment and information technology has become a dominantinstrument when it is used as a part of development stratagemunited with partnerships between governments, business and civil society (World Bank, 2003). The role of information technology is vital in the development of any economy across the world, and as far as banking industry is concerned it is one of the very first to implement information technology back in 1960s and has developed itseld by infusing the information technology. The information technology has proved itself as a strategic resource for organizations in today's global economy. Now, the information technology is being regarded as most important factor when it is compared to capital and human resource. Some experts believed that the labour was the most critical factor in agricultural age, Capital in industrial age and Information in post-industrial age. Managing information effectively is now being most challenging job in Information Technology in Banking Industry of Pakistan: In recent decades, the technological innovations have continued inroads into Pakistan are banking Industry. Information technology has become a pivot factor for managing banking operations in terms of both products and services. It has also become key driver for financial inclusion in terms of all banking operations and products. The banking customers who were only exposed to ATMs now enjoy telephone and PC banking, Internet Banking, IVR systems, POS, and multiple hosts of transactions under the umbrella of electronic financial services. The performance of banks is Pakistan is now judged significantly in terms of use of information technology and the definition of customer service standards has been changed due to heavy reliance on information technology. The information technology platform has enhanced business volumes of Pakistani banks and unbanked geographical regions have also been captured. Many of private sector Pakistani banks have introduced branchless banking and the banking customers now do not need to visit the branches here they are maintaining their accounts. Many private sector and foreign Banks are moving towards very sophisticated information technology based solutions to facilitate financial services. Further, some of private and foreign banks have switched to Core Banking Solutions showing a paradigm shift in banking practices and operations.
Despite having magnificent growth of IT based banking solutions, Pakistani banks have to go long way in considerable implementation of the information technology as Pakistan's banking system is still far from desirable levels of quantity and quality of IT based banking solutions. Pakistani banks still have huge space to excel as85% of the population of Pakistan is still unbanked and untapped. Only some of foreign and private sector banks have made remarkable progress in developing e-banking platforms, the huge public sector banks despite of having huge network and depositor base like Master Bank yet have to start from scratch to establish on overall basis a sound information technology based system to support both internal MIS and efficient customer services. The core issue this paper addresses is the need for infusion of information technology in Banking Practices in public sector Pakistani banks. Also, the challenges a bank may expose to during the process of full IT adoption and possible solutions/recommendations to cater those challenges. The paper begins with a brief literature review on importance of Information Technology in banking, which is followed by the case of a large public sector Pakistani bank, and the analysis of its key factors vital in adoption of Information Technology for strategic goal accomplishment. It concludes with a set of recommendations for bank under discussion.

Literature Review
This is an era if competition as far as banking is concerned; settings up of excellent business operational tactics are necessary for survival; within extremely volatile and unpredictable financial market it depends on banks how they utilize the information technology to maintain the client loyalty, maximize the profit, reduce cost and maintain a sustainable growth rate; as competition is not only limited to geographical limits because large multinational banking organizations make it difficult for small ones to survive so without an valuable weapon survival is not possible, Information technology can be that weapon of survival for the banking organizations (Sun, 2010).

Information Technology and Cost & Profit Efficiency of Banking Sector:
The Information Technology has become a crucial enabler for information and knowledge management in organizations (AL-Rawashdeh at el.,2012, Stratigos, 2001Higgins, 2001,). Kozak (2005) examined the relationship between the progress in IT and profit and cost efficiencies in the US banking sector during 1992-2003. The research revealed that levels of implemented IT and both profitability and cost savings were positively correlated. As far as human capital is concerned no one can deny its importance but it is very difficult to retain this therefore most of the business organizations (banks) are focusing on the available information systems to improve service quality, enhance human capital, improve efficiency, reinvent business structure and develop strategies to get competitive advantage over the others (Liao, Landry Jr, & Cheung, 2003). By using the information system a bank can also reduce its sunk costs of entering the new markets (Corvoisier & Gropp, 2009). Al-Otaibi (1992) studied moderating impact of different IT factors on the relationship between strategic decisions and organizational performance. A number of these factors found significantly related to organizational performance.
The strategic decisions regarding the enhanced communication capability through Information Technology facilitate learning from strategic initiatives and the innovation across industries is due to use of IT (Andersen, 2001). Reviewing various studies, Urgo (1996) concluded that the investment in IT has positive correlation to the productivity. Aladwani (2000Aladwani ( , 2001 emphasized that the information system project characteristics and performance have strong relationship. On the other hand, Zhu et al. (2004) studied banking industry to ascertain relationship between advanced computer operating systems, wide and local area networks and internet on Banks' performance. They proved that network systems do not impact the return on assets. The findings of studies described above have provided some evidence of variation in impact of IT in different organizations merely due to differences in organizational characteristics, the usefulness of these studies is limited to organization's reliance on IT investment and firm performance (Dos Santos and Pfeffers, 1993). customers using internet banking experienced highest levels of satisfaction in terms of accessibility of eservices.

Strategic Importance of Information Technology in Organizations:
Information technology is increasingly being taken by management as an opportunity to leverage sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in organizations (Remenyi 1991). IT has become one of the most powerful strategic tools as the managers must have to create sustainable comparative advantage from IT, although, it is not simple (Domegan, 1995). Burn and Loch (2001) stated that organizational, sociological and cultural factors might inhibit effective transformation to global application of IT caused by the inclusion of internet and other telecommunication systems. Chou and Jou (1999) and Dasgupta, (1999) studied Asian region and found that industrial settings caused significant differences in the perceptions of information systems' managers. They concluded that organizational climate, culture, size, environmental factors, government policies, and market forces are main influential factors on the perceptions of managers and their strategic decision-making in Taiwanese and Indian firms. In the Middle East, the adoption of IT was slow due to political, religious, cultural and ethical concerns (Al-Tawil, 2001;Houissa, 2000). Lin et al. (2005) presented an eChain bank accounting system integrating value chain product and emphasized that value chain activities like account activities and fund capitalization must be coupled together. The implementation of this system will ensure increased customer satisfaction together with sustainable comparative advantage. Ju et al. (2005) through a strategic contingency model for technology alliance empirically found that organizations with higher IT absorption tendency, higher risk evasiveness, higher R&D orientation and higher expertise of top management tend to gain higher competitive advantages. Westerback (1999) reviewed public agencies and found that strategic information technology practices cause improved service delivery and better returns on investment. Also, the role of human resource in planning and management of IT applications has changed a great deal and recent studies have focused that new sets of skills, strategies related to their employment, development and retention are needed (Burn et al., 1995;Gordon, 2002;Hallam, 2001;Harwood, 2001;Heckman, 1998;Slowinsky, 2000;Smith and Webster, 2000). In the financial services industry, product and services creation is a result of a chain of complex activities of a team of human resource. Further, in the banking industry, profit related objectives are being preferred over volume based sales with intensive use of IT (Mabberly, 1996). Harold and Jeff (1995) empirically proved that financial service providers should restructure their traditional delivery systems to remain viable. They claimed the failure on the part of senior management in banks to understand the importance of Technology enable delivery systems as the most significant shortcoming in the banking industry.

E-Banking Infrastructure in Pakistan:
Initially internet banking was launched in Pakistan to provide a limited number of services and it was sort of hype in the market. In the past years there has been greater understanding and development towards various services being offered by banks through internet banking. Customer readiness, acceptance & security awareness is also a factor which is improving as usage of internet banking is increasing. Banks have also begun to understand the cost & benefits of internet banking.In Pakistan, there was also an internet bandwidth issue which has since been resolved by the availability of better internet network availability. Utility companies are also gearing up for offering bill payment facilities through various electronic channels including Internet Banking.

Methodology
The case study approach is being used for this study to correlate the banking issues with real life. Yin (1994) emphasized on use of case study where specific research questions like "why" or "how" are to be addresses. By asking how or why, the case study approach valuably contributes towards generating knowledge or construction of a new perspective of the phenomena which is to be investigated (Boateng and Molla, 2006,Eisenhardt, 1989. Within this research, the objective is to ascertainthe factors responsible for slow induction of Information technology in banking practices in Master Bank. Also, the elements that influence this decisions and the lessons that can be derived out of this study. The bank used in this research is a largest Pakistani bank, which for the sake of confidentiality would be referred to as Master Bank. Data and information were gathered through interviews with the IT department staff at both Head Office and local area office level. Additional data were collected by analysis of Bank's website and director's report to shareholders. The current IT applications being used by the Bank were also overviewed. The IT manuals issued by Bank from time to time were studied as well.

The Master Bank
Master Bank is the largest commercial bank operating in Pakistan. Its balance sheet size surpasses that of any of the other banks functioning locally. It has redefined its role and has moved from a public sector organization into a pure commercial bank. Year 2010 was a milestone year for the bank as it has become the first financial institution in the country to surpass the One Trillion Rupee' mark. Total assets of the bank were at Rs. social responsibilities, as a corporate citizen. According to consolidated financial statements of year 2010, the bank has declared its deposits as PKR 832,134 million.

Evolution of Information Technology In Master Bank:
The Master Bank faces slow growth of Information technology for its management information system and customer products. The table 2 shows year wise progress of IT in Master Bank; A very steady IT infusion is evident from the facts narrated in table 6.1.The Master Bank took more than 40 years to understand the utility of being online when it launched its first online branch in 1983. The advancement in Technology by adopting a real time online electronic Banking contributed little towards operational efficiency as the Master Bank has only 384 branches working as online out of its 1256 domestic branches. In last decade the Master Bank stepped into a rapid adoption of IT and technology based products by launching dynamic website and converting its first Branch using Core banking Application. The Master Bank of Pakistan is currently working mainly with ATM / debit cards and web based remittances application, conceived while comparing E Banking infrastructure in domestic and foreign banks operating in Pakistan with Master Bank.   (1998) it is revealed that Master Bank is partially in the informational stage of induction of IT where its functions are limited to a website and partially in its transactional phase where the balance Inquiry and electronic signature and launch of first Core Banking branch.

Master Banks' Banking Operation Applications and Software's
In the public sector, the changing competitive environment has spurred the banking organizations to go for delivering greater focus on quality of services and more flexibility, curtailing costs at the same time. The Central Bank is encouraging public sector banking organizations to adopt new IT based solutions and systems in order to improve services and lowering operating costs. However in Pakistan, it is evident that the adoption of information technology varies widely across different banks and banks are not adopting IT based techniques despite their apparent benefits. Especially public sector banks, where adoption of information technology tends to be fragmentary and slow. As the banks increase in size, they need to optimize their structure for which increased use of information technology is unavoidable. The public sector banks are characterized by sobering performance, bureaucratization, increased size, greater use of written directives and larger number of non-production personnel. As discussed above, being a public sector bank, the Master Bank has bureaucratic culture and the structural optimization is not heavily relied upon. The top management is focusing more on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty without using information technology unlike many private sector and foreign banks operating in market. Having competitive advantage in terms of its public appearance and wide depositor base, the top management is not giving due weight age and importance to make the Master Bank a cyber-financial super market.
During last decade, the Master Bank has developed a full fledge IT wing at head office and regional level providing back office IT support to the whole network of Master Bank. The IT development division of Master Bank has developed many software applications that are being used in Master Bank like Branch Back Office, Signature Verification System, E-remittance system, Deposit Receipt etc. Currently, Master Bank has 83 Banking operations and Information system applications and softwares, both in house and outsourced many of which are non-operational. The details of the applications and softwares are given in Table7.1. Master Bank has no main software for Banking Operations and retrieval of different reports rather they are working with many stand alone softwares having limited functional utilities. Only one major Electronic Banking System is operational with different online banking modules. Bank is relying on standalone PC based applications and softwares for single users. Also, the bank seems reluctant in outsourcing its information technology development process and making useful 3 rd party alliances. Most of the softwares are developed by using Fox pro which is an obsolete programming language and only 5 of its applications are oracle bas. Table 5 shows the details of various softwares, their utilities, database engine and automation level being used in Master Bank and highlights need for a proper centralized information system.

Supply Side Constraints:
The Master Bank is affected by Supply-side constraints which include the state monopoly of telecommunications and the existence of regulations that prevent the private sector from participating in the sector. The telecommunication companies and the software developers are fewer in Pakistan therefore, the Banks in Pakistan heavily rely upon the outsourced systems, purchased from abroad. Also contributory is the lack of resources to augment investment in telecommunications sector sometimes due to the high level of indebtedness of the local operator. For speedy and efficient E Banking services, a strong network infrastructure is a must which is lacking in Master Bank and its only E Banking facility i.e ATM is frequently disconnected from source resulting in long down times.

High Population Growth Rates:
Population growth rate in Pakistan is high as compared to its productive capacity. It is projected that in year 2011, the rate will be 24.81 births / 1000 population. This is giving rise to increased deposit base of Master Bank. As the number of customers is growing, Master bank of Pakistan is focusing on procuring more depositors rather than focusing on facilitating existing customers and cost reduction by infusion of technology in Banking services and operations.

Low Investment Efficiency and High Installation Costs:
Installation costs per line in Pakistan are on higher side than the industry average which is above US$ 4,500 per line. The huge installation costs are partly due to the large rural areas that have to be covered. These large costs are reflected in high subscription charges.

Civil Disturbances and Political Instability:
A factor accounting for the lack of development in Information technology in Master Bank is the absence of political stability in Pakistan. Also, the Master Bank has existence in the areas which are mainly affected by terrorism. Complete system Automation in the terrorism affected are is very difficult as the IT personnel are unable to visit the areas and the telecommunication infrastructure is difficult to be installed.

Absence of Adequate Communication Network Infrastructures:
Generally, in Banks providing E Banking services, arrange for appropriate and sufficient communication equipments. In Master Bank although, two parallel communication systems are installed for its 384 online branches, i.e optic fiber and DSL as backup communication connection.

Lack Of Government Interest And Support:
Master Bank is mainly owned by Government of Pakistan. The government is not taking much interest in automation of the Baking services and operations as the Master Bank being Government owned holds major deposit and business of the government. The Master bank has its monopoly in many banking services which other foreign and domestic banks are not offering like government transactions involving huge funds, revenue collection etc. This leads to lack of competitiveness in Master Bank causing in low interest in introducing technology enabled customized banking services. Also, being a government owned organization, it faces restrictions and fulfillment of certain minimum requirements.

Technical And Management Support For Internet Connection:
The Master bank being an old bank and facing restrictions on external hiring has low quality of human resource. The human resource is very critical factor in the services industry like Banking, but the Master bank is far behind the domestic and foreign banks as its HR is not well equipped with the changing business environment. They are not qualified enough to handle the problems associated with web based and electronic banking products. Only 20% of Master Banks' human resource is computer literate -a big question mark is. As Master Bank uses a weak communication infrastructure, technical problems occur quite often increasing the system down time.

Regulators' guidelines:
The State Bank of Pakistan has given security policy for E Banking transactions, mobile banking, credit cards and branchless banking. To coop with rapidly changing requirements of regulator, it is becoming difficult for Master Bank to convert its system into fully automated one.

Lack Of Effective Coordination Between Groups:
Master Bank being a huge organization consists of multilayer hierarchy and groups. There is lack of communication and coordination between groups and offices mainly due to least use of IT for official communication. This causes slow implementation of IT projects in Master Bank.

High Equipment Costs:
The Branch automation requires installation of sophisticated equipments to handle multi user applications and deliver efficient output at the same time. In Pakistan, these are not produced locally and Banks have to rely on imported equipment which involves heavy payment in foreign exchange which hinders the automation of Master Bank.
Internal Issues: As mentioned earlier, Master Bank has less qualified staff, lack of proper training, improper work distribution, rapid changes in top level management and political influences. Although, the Master Bank issues IT user manual from time to time, these are not properly circulated to concerned employees to update their knowledge and practices which results in slow rate of IT projects implementation. Also, the employees show maximum level of resistance for every change in organization mainly in field of IT.

Large Branch Network:
The Master bank consists of largest branch network in Pakistan having 1256 branches all over country having appearance in far flung areas where no other domestic or foreign bank exists. It is very difficult to converted whole network into real time online overnight. This work must have to be done in chunks. As it appears in the areas where poor social and communication infrastructure prevails, even no communication service provider company exists, full automation of complete branch network is not possible.

Lack of Interest by Senior Management:
Achieving success in financial sector in today's volatile and uncertain business environment requires innovation and proven expertise. The senior management of Master Bank is still unable to understand the intensity of need of technology oriented customized services. Therefore, implementation of IT projects is emphasized less by them as compared to deposit procurement and reduction in classified loans portfolio. It serves as a main cause of slow IT growth rate in Master Bank.

Non Existence Of Marketing Department In Master Bank:
Being a Government owned entity, the master Bank still have no separate marketing group to plan and launch new Banking products manly due to monopolistic control over some Banking activities. Also, as State bank of Pakistan requires launch of proper software for monitoring and management of every banking product, Master Bank is reluctant to launch new It oriented consumer products which indirectly hinders growth of IT in Master Bank.

Future of it in Master Bank:
The upcoming IT projects in Master Bank are as follows;  Branches are in process of shifting to the higher bandwidth under a contract with PTCL that will increase the efficiency and connectivity.  Maximum number of Branches will be made on line by December 2011.  Electronic Remittance system is already working.  Introduction of HR centralization system will bring a revolution in the HR data maintenance of the Master Bank.  The most important aspect is launching and implementation of CORE BANKING SYSTEM.
This system is purchased from the most leading firm of the world Fidelity Intl. It is the highest funded IT project of banking history in Pakistan. It will make Master Bank a one window operation bank. Online money transfers and payments from any branch will be possible. The system has already been successfully implemented in a branch in Karachi and two branches are running in trial. Shortly, its implementation will start in other big cities as well. Shortly implementation will start in Lahore and gradually in whole country.
 Another revolution is the launch of mobile banking. The system is ready and on hold as it is in the process of obtaining approval from State Bank of Pakistan.  The Master bank has marked a historic milestone by launching online connectivity for network expansion project. For this, the bank has made alliance with PTCL to fully automate its 1256 branches. The project will provide the bank a platform for the roadmap towards a paperless banking environment.  So very soon the Master bank will lead not only in highest profit rather also in information technology facilities for customers.

Challenges and Risks:
The major challenges facing ICT adoption can therefore be summarized under the following categories:

Sustainable Wired and Wireless Networks:
The Master Bank needs to make agency arrangements with country's' best communication network service providers in order to capture the major share of electronic banking in market.

Cost of Connection:
The connection costs are normally very high, therefore the Master bank must sort out different ways to lower the connection costs. For this the Master bank must enter into agreement with service provider and negotiate the cost of connection. A major barrier in IT diffusion is the limited availability of communication infrastructures in developing countries. Existing communication networks are available only in urban areas, offering poor services in contrast with the ultra high-speed and modern electronic banking systems operational in foreign banks operating in Pakistan. So, modernizing existing communication channels and infrastructures as well as establishing new ones in remote areas is thus the key issues.

E-Security Issues:
As the use of electronic and technology based services increases, question of transaction security rises. To coop up with the issue, the Master Bank must deploy a strong communication network and compliance of State Bank of Pakistan E security policy guidelines. Also, the user IDs and authorities must be assigned in such a way as to avoid access of system by UN authorized persons.
Political Instability -Policy Inconsistencies: In Pakistan, political and social unrest is prevailing mainly due to terrorism and strategic and demographic importance of Pakistan in the region. In this part of south Asia, political government hardly completes its constitutional tenure and changes occur rapidly. Every coming team in government immediately terminates the policies announced by previous government and imposes new programs and policies. This phenomenon has become a major challenge for Master Bank in implementation of its long term plans. As Government of Pakistan is a major shareholder of Master Bank, it is always influenced by the change in government.

Lack Of Effective Coordination:
In Master Bank, due to formation of large number of groups, it faces lack of coordination among various groups. This is serving as obstacle in the way of smooth and prompt implementation of IT projects in Master Bank.

Risk Management Challenges
Adaptation to Technology issues: The rapid changes in technological and customer service innovation in ebanking are unprecedented. This magnifies the challenges to the Master Banks' management to ensure that adequate strategic assessment, risk analysis and securities reviews and revaluations are conducted prior to implementing new e-banking applications. The Human resource who is the first to encounter with the automated systems is reluctant to accept any change in organization due to lack of qualifications, computer literacy and initiative, so Master Bank before becoming fully automated must have well thought plans to address the issues of technology adoption.
Outsourcing issue: E-banking increases banks' dependence on technology, thereby increasing the technical complexity of many operational and informational matters. It also gives rise to E-security issues and furthering a trend towards partnerships, alliances and outsourcing arrangements with unregulated third parties. Managing the package of risks associated to the unregulated partners and third parties and security issues are the first and foremost to be addressed.
Increased legal and reputational risks: E banking brings with itself security and swift delivery of service issues. The customers using E banking services are mostly concerned with the time saving linked with it. A strong communication network guarantees this advantage to the customers. If a bank fails to provide so, it is bound to face reputational and operational risks in contrast with its long term profit maximization objectives. The e banking exposes a Bank to legal risks as well due to poor security policies governing the E banking channels.
E-security issue: E banking is usually web based and it is an open network accessible from anywhere in the world by unknown persons, at unknown locations and through wireless devices. Therefore, it is incumbent of challenges on security controls, customer identification, data control standards, audit procedures, and customer privacy requirements. Every country depending heavily on E Banking delivery channels is exposed to the same risk. Since 1999, Brazil has faced 418% increase in e security issues; Korea has experienced 932% rise and Japan has evidenced over 1000% increase in malicious electronic banking transactions (Tom Glaessner et al, 2003).More than 57% of all hack attacks in 2002 were attempted against the Banking sector (Tom Glaessner et al, 2003).
Policy Implications and Some Suggesting Thoughts: As Master Bank is planning to convert its whole network into fully automated in future it must formulate its policies in such a way to achieve ultimate strategic goals of the customer satisfaction maximization, increase in Banks' net worth, reduction in costs and attaining sustainable competitive advantage.  The Master Bank must establish a comprehensive security control process. A strong e banking customer's authentication and identification policy must be in place. The Master Bank must build up a comprehensive e-security public policy framework. There is a strong public interest case for government to regulate the e-financial transactions as Master Bank is being owned by government. The Internetbased transactions require high security measures for which private solutions and troubleshooting may not be sufficient. The reach of the internet technologies imply that financial services are becoming global and boundary-less. Therefore, mitigating e security risks requires vigorous efforts to consolidate a combined auctioned plan by participants, regulators, and law enforcements.  The Human resource department in coordination with IT group must assign appropriate duties to employees handling the e banking applications to avoid unauthorized access to the system.  The Master Bank must establish clear audit tests and trails for every e-banking transaction. A set of rules must be designed for accountability for e-banking transactions. In Master Bank, for successful implementation of its IT delivery channels, centralized-back office must be established to free staff time in sales and services areas and for consolidation of process in harmony across the Bank.  For loans automation, the Master Bank must develop automated credit authorization system by introducing an appropriate credit scoring and cash-flow based financing system for reduction of operating costs, maintaining asset quality, and increasing consumers' profitability. It will enable the Bank to take lending decisions without obtaining the projected financials, credit reports and hard to get collateral valuation reports.  The Master Bank must have in place a comprehensive due diligence and management oversight policy for outsourcing alliances and other unregulated third-party partnerships. It must undertake strategic collaborations within the players of industry particularly in the research and development areas (software development and securities), promotional and awareness activities.  The management of Master Bank must integrate cross-border e-banking risks into the bank's overall strategic risk management policy. For avoidance of legal and reputational risks associated with E Banking, the Bank must appropriately disclose its E Banking services to its customers and regulators. It must ensure the privacy of customer information and transactions through strong communication infrastructure. Different contingency plans must be in place to ensure the availability of E Banking services. The Law and order situation in country is very critical and to encounter this issue the Bank must develop an appropriate incident response policy. Also, again the duties must be appropriately segregated so as to avoid illegal and unidentified access to electronic banking system.
 The Master Bank must hold the ability to adopt global technology according to local requirements: An adequate level of communication and information infrastructure and human capability building are required before adopting the global technology to meet local requirements.

Conclusion
Banking milieu has become exceedingly competitive and to survive and grow in the changing market environment, it has become imperative to successful banks to opt latest technologies. It is professed as an enabling resource that can facilitate in developing more flexible organization that can retort quickly to the dynamics of fast growing markets. The paradigm shift is result of continuous emergence of new foreign and domestic banks in Pakistan. Accordingly, to keep up with latest trends and fashions in banking industry, Master Bank is slowly shifting from traditional banking to high-tech banking. It is in the process of elaborating its existing IT setup by embarking on centralization of online branches. For this, it has formulated IT plans and business support approaches to retain customers and improve IT support services. The Master Bank is facing key issues of lack of regulatory frameworks, customers' trust, e security issues, privacy standards, customers identification and transaction authentication techniques etc. to implement e-Banking projects. By concluding well thought out policies and regulatory frameworks, keeping in view the principles of Basel Accord and using online banking as new delivery tools Master Bank will be soon conquering the skies of success as financial super market and the Bank of first choice in Pakistan.