SBI Adds AI Assistant and Carbon Tracker to YONO

State Bank of India rolled out a set of AI-powered features for its YONO platform on Monday, the bank's 71st foundation day. The updates target both retail and business customers and include a virtual assistant, a carbon-emissions tracker, and a new 3-in-1 account opening process.

The bank introduced YONO Ji, an Agentic AI assistant available 24 hours a day on the YONO Business web and mobile platforms. It answers questions on products, platform features, and service queries. SBI also added a sustainability journey that lets retail customers track carbon savings from digital transactions and see a monthly green score.

For new customers, SBI now offers a combined digital onboarding that opens a savings account alongside a demat and trading account through SBICAP Securities Ltd. Existing customers can convert a savings account to a Corporate Salary Account or upgrade an existing salary account online without visiting a branch.

On the business side, SBI expanded eTrade on the YONO Business platform to include the full Trade Finance suite. That shift puts trade finance operations onto mobile.

Chairman CS Setty said the launches reflect the bank's commitment to using artificial intelligence, digital innovation, and data-driven insights to make banking simpler and smarter. He added that SBI is creating integrated digital ecosystems that support India's growth toward Viksit Bharat 2047.

SBI said YONO now has more than 10 crore registered users out of its total 53 crore customer base. The bank plans to position YONO as a complete digital bank, the chairman indicated.

The features add to a string of digital moves by India's largest lender. SBI has been investing in technology to reduce branch traffic, lower cost-to-income ratios, and capture younger, tech-savvy customers. The new AI assistant could cut call-center volume for routine queries, while the sustainability tracker may appeal to a demographic increasingly focused on environmental metrics. Both are small pieces of a broader push to keep YONO competitive against nimble fintech apps and private-sector rivals like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

The 3-in-1 account opening also puts SBI in direct competition with discount brokers and neobanks that offer similar bundled services. By tying the savings account to a demat and trading account, SBI aims to capture a larger share of the retail investing flow that has boomed in India over the past few years.

A key uncertainty is adoption. YONO's 10 crore registered users represent roughly one-fifth of SBI's total customers. Getting the remaining base onto the platform, especially in rural areas, remains a challenge. The bank did not disclose timeline targets for the new features or how it plans to market them beyond the foundation-day launch.

For traders and investors watching the Indian banking space, SBI's digital push is a long-term margin story. If the platform can convert even a fraction of its offline customers to digital, operating costs could fall meaningfully. The next concrete milestone will be quarterly cost-income ratios and YONO user growth numbers in SBI's next earnings report.