Punjab National Bank (PNB) has partnered with the Digital India BHASHINI Division to integrate multilingual AI into its digital banking platforms, enabling customers to access services in multiple Indian languages through voice and text.
22
Supported Languages (BHASHINI)
⏳ Time Machine
How today’s news fits into the bigger picture
July 2022
Digital India BHASHINI Launched
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched BHASHINI as a national public digital platform to provide AI-powered language technology in **22 scheduled Indian languages**, aiming for digital inclusion.
October 2025
PNB Commits to AI Investment
PNB announced a significant IT spending plan of **₹3,400 crore**, with a focus on artificial intelligence, technology upgrades, and digital innovation to improve customer service and fraud management.
May 2026
PNB's PIHU Chatbot Supports 15 Languages
PNB's existing AI-powered chatbot, PIHU, was updated to support voice-based queries in **15 Indian languages**, demonstrating the bank's early moves into multilingual digital assistance.
July 16, 2026
PNB, BHASHINI Sign MoU
PNB and the Digital India BHASHINI Division formalized a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate BHASHINI's advanced multilingual AI into PNB's digital banking platforms.
Today
Punjab National Bank partners with Digital India BHASHINI for multilingual AI banking services.
What happens next?
PNB will roll out multilingual features on its digital platforms in a phased manner, with continuous integration of BHASHINI's AI models.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) announced on July 16, 2026, a strategic partnership with the Digital India BHASHINI Division. This collaboration will integrate advanced multilingual Artificial Intelligence (AI) into PNB's digital banking services, allowing customers to interact with the bank in their preferred Indian languages via both voice and text. The initiative aims to enhance financial inclusion by breaking down language barriers for a broader segment of the population, particularly in rural and regional areas. The BHASHINI platform, developed under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, offers AI-powered language technology in **22 scheduled Indian languages**, including speech recognition and machine translation.
💭 If you're wondering…
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) is an independent business division under Digital India Corporation (DIC), an arm of MeitY. It is responsible for developing and promoting the BHASHINI platform and its ecosystem.
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