KOLKATA: President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said that banks need to strike the right balance between creation of assets and protecting people's money to ensure economic progress.

Speaking at an event of UCO Bank here, the President said if this balance is disturbed, there will be a problem, which could upset the development process.

"The first responsibility of banks is to protect people's money. The other important aspect of banks is creation of assets. This balance has to be maintained, and if disturbed, there will be an economic problem," Murmu said.

Stating that she belongs to family of bankers, Murmu said fintech has done enormous job during the COVID-19 pandemic for settling transactions.

"Fintech has helped in forging social equity. UPI (Unified Payments Interface) has also helped in building the digital infrastructure of the country and in settling transactions during the pandemic years," she said.

The President virtually inaugurated 50 branches of UCO Bank across 18 states in the country.

She also virtually laid the foundation stone for reconstruction of a school in Odisha where the President once worked as a teacher.