A PROJECT ON BANKING SECTOR CONTENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO BANKING SECTOR IN INDIA PEST ANALYSIS 7P’s OF BANKING SECTOR BLUEPRINTING 4I’s OF BANKING RATER ANALYSIS FOR INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK MARKET SEGMENTATION COMPLAINT HANDLING–HDFC BANK CASE STUDY-I RATER SERVICE RECOVERY
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Transcript
A PROJECT ON BANKING SECTOR
CONTENTS
AN INTRODUCTION TO BANKING SECTOR IN INDIA
PEST ANALYSIS
7P’s OF BANKING SECTOR
BLUEPRINTING
4I’s OF BANKING
RATER ANALYSIS FOR INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK
MARKET SEGMENTATION
COMPLAINT HANDLING–HDFC BANK
CASE STUDY-I
RATER
SERVICE RECOVERY
FISH BONE
CASE STUDY-II (ICICI BANK)
RATER
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTICLES
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BANKING SECTOR IN INDIA
Banks are the most significant players in the Indian financial market.
They are the biggest purveyors of credit, and they also attract most of the
savings from the population. Dominated by public sector, the banking
industry has so far acted as an efficient partner in the growth and the
development of the country. Driven by the socialist ideologies and the
welfare state concept, public sector banks have long been the supporters
of agriculture and other priority sectors. They act as crucial channels of
the government in its efforts to ensure equitable economic development.
The Indian banking can be broadly categorized into nationalized
(government owned), private banks and specialized banking institutions.
The Reserve Bank of India acts a centralized body monitoring any
discrepancies and shortcoming in the system. Since the nationalization
of banks in 1969, the public sector banks or the nationalized banks have
acquired a place of prominence and has since then seen tremendous
progress. The need to become highly customer focused has forced the
slow-moving public sector banks to adopt a fast track approach. The
unleashing of products and services through the net has galvanized
players at all levels of the banking and financial institutions market grid
to look anew at their existing portfolio offering. Conservative banking
practices allowed Indian banks to be insulated partially from the Asian
currency crisis. Indian banks are now quoting al higher valuation when
compared to banks in other Asian countries (viz. Hong Kong, Singapore,
Philippines etc.) that have major problems linked to huge Non Performing
Assets (NPAs) and payment defaults. Co-operative banks are nimble
footed in approach and armed with efficient branch networks focus
primarily on the ‘high revenue’ niche retail segments.
The Indian banking has finally worked up to the competitive
dynamics of the ‘new’ Indian market and is addressing the relevant
issues to take on the multifarious challenges of globalization. Banks that
employ IT solutions are perceived to be ‘futuristic’ and proactive players
capable of meeting the multifarious requirements of the large customer’s
base. Private Banks have been fast on the uptake and are reorienting
their strategies using the internet as a medium The Internet has
emerged as the new and challenging frontier of marketing with the
conventional physical world tenets being just as applicable like in any
other marketing medium.
The Indian banking has come from a long way from being a sleepy
business institution to a highly proactive and dynamic entity. This
transformation has been largely brought about by the large dose of
liberalization and economic reforms that allowed banks to explore new
business opportunities rather than generating revenues from
conventional streams (i.e. borrowing and lending). The banking in India
is highly fragmented with 30 banking units contributing to almost 50% of
deposits and 60% of advances. Indian nationalized banks (banks owned
by the government) continue to be the major lenders in the economy
due to their sheer size and penetrative networks which assures them
high deposit mobilization. The Indian banking can be broadly
categorized into nationalized, private banks and specialized banking
institutions.
The Reserve Bank of India acts as a centralized body monitoring
any discrepancies and shortcoming in the system. It is the foremost
monitoring body in the Indian financial sector. The nationalized banks
(i.e. government-owned banks) continue to dominate the Indian banking
arena. Industry estimates indicate that out of 274 commercial banks
operating in India, 223 banks are in the public sector and 51 are in the
private sector. The private sector bank grid also includes 24 foreign
banks that have started their operations here.
The liberalize policy of Government of India permitted entry to
private sector in the banking, the industry has witnessed the entry of nine
new generation private banks. The major differentiating parameter
that distinguishes these banks from all the other banks in the
Indian banking is the level of service that is offered to the
customer. Their focus has always centered around the customer –
understanding his needs, preempting him and consequently
delighting him with various configurations of benefits and a wide
portfolio of products and services. These banks have generally been
established by promoters of repute or by ‘high value’ domestic financial
institutions.
The popularity of these banks can be gauged by the fact that in a
short span of time, these banks have gained considerable customer
confidence and consequently have shown impressive growth rates.
Today, the private banks corner almost four per cent share of the total
share of deposits. Most of the banks in this category are concentrated in
the high-growth urban areas in metros (that account for approximately
70% of the total banking business). With efficiency being the major
focus, these banks have leveraged on their strengths and competencies
viz. Management, operational efficiency and flexibility, superior product
positioning and higher employee productivity skills.
The private banks with their focused business and service portfolio
have a reputation of being niche players in the industry. A strategy that
has allowed these banks to concentrate on few reliable high net worth
companies and individuals rather than cater to the mass market. These
well-chalked out integrates strategy plans have allowed most of these
banks to deliver superlative levels of personalized services. With the
Reserve Bank of India allowing these banks to operate 70% of their
businesses in urban areas, this statutory requirement has translated into
lower deposit mobilization costs and higher margins relative to public
sector banks.
PEST ANALYSIS
TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIROMENT
Technology plays a very important role in bank’s internal control
mechanisms as well as services offered by them. It has in fact given new
dimensions to the banks as well as services that they cater to and the
banks are enthusiastically adopting new technological innovations for
devising new products and services.
The latest developments in terms of technology in computer and
telecommunication have encouraged the bankers to change the concept
of branch banking to anywhere banking. The use of ATM and Internet
banking has allowed ‘anytime, anywhere banking’ facilities. Automatic
voice recorders now answer simple queries, currency accounting
machines makes the job easier and self-service counters are now
encouraged. Credit card facility has encouraged an era of cashless
society. Today MasterCard and Visa card are the two most popular cards
used world over. The banks have now started issuing smartcards or debit
cards to be used for making payments. These are also called as electronic
purse. Some of the banks have also started home banking through
telecommunication facilities and computer technology by using terminals
installed at customers home and they can make the balance inquiry, get
the statement of accounts, give instructions for fund transfers, etc.
Through ECS we can receive the dividends and interest directly to our
account avoiding the delay or chance of loosing the post.
Today banks are also using SMS and Internet as major tool of
promotions and giving great utility to its customers. For example SMS
functions through simple text messages sent from your mobile. The
messages are then recognized by the bank to provide you with the
required information.
All these technological changes have forced the bankers to adopt
customer-based approach instead of product-based approach.
ECONOMICAL ENVIROMENT
Banking is as old as authentic history and the modern commercial
banking are traceable to ancient times. In India, banking has existed in
one form or the other from time to time. The present era in banking may
be taken to have commenced with establishment of bank of Bengal in
1809 under the government charter and with government participation in
share capital. Allahabad bank was started in the year 1865 and Punjab
national bank in 1895, and thus, others followed
Every year RBI declares its 6 monthly policy and accordingly the
various measures and rates are implemented which has an impact on the
banking sector. Also the Union budget affects the banking sector to boost
the economy by giving certain concessions or facilities. If in the Budget
savings are encouraged, then more deposits will be attracted towards the
banks and in turn they can lend more money to the agricultural sector and
industrial sector, therefore, booming the economy. If the FDI limits are
relaxed, then more FDI are brought in India through banking channels.
POLITICAL/ LEGAL ENVIROMENT
Government and RBI policies affect the banking sector. Sometimes
looking into the political advantage of a particular party, the Government
declares some measures to their benefits like waiver of short-term
agricultural loans, to attract the farmer’s votes. By doing so the profits of
the bank get affected. Various banks in the cooperative sector are open
and run by the politicians. They exploit these banks for their benefits.
Sometimes the government appoints various chairmen of the banks.
Various policies are framed by the RBI looking at the present
situation of the country for better control over the banks.
SOCIAL ENVIROMENT
Before nationalization of the banks, their control was in the hands of
the private parties and only big business houses and the effluent sections
of the society were getting benefits of banking in India. In 1969
government nationalized 14 banks. To adopt the social development in
the banking sector it was necessary for speedy economic progress,
consistent with social justice, in democratic political system, which is free
from domination of law, and in which opportunities are open to all.
Accordingly, keeping in mind both the national and social objectives,
bankers were given direction to help economically weaker section of the
society and also provide need-based finance to all the sectors of the
economy with flexible and liberal attitude. Now the banks provide various
types of loans to farmers, working women, professionals, and traders.
They also provide education loan to the students and housing loans,
consumer loans, etc.
Banks having big clients or big companies have to provide services
like personalized banking to their clients because these customers do not
believe in running about and waiting in queues for getting their work
done. The bankers also have to provide these customers with special
provisions and at times with benefits like food and parties. But the banks
do not mind incurring these costs because of the kind of business these
clients bring for the bank.
Banks have changed the culture of human life in India and have
made life much easier for the people.
7 P’S of BANKING SECTOR
It is very important for any bank to identify the 7 P’s of services so
was understands their customers better and provide them with best of
service. The 7 P’s are:
1. PRODUCT MIX
2. PRICE MIX
3. PLACE
4. PROMOTION
5. PEOPLE
6. PROCESS
7. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
PRODUCT MIX
The product mix of a company includes all different product lines a
company offers to its customers. The product line of a bank might easily
include more than 100 different services. In today’s competitive scenario
it has become very necessary for a bank to provide it’s customers with a
wide variety of services and the best technology in order to attract them.
Here is an example of some of the products offered by UTI Bank to its
customers.
Offering
UTI Bank's Savings Account is just the right product for everyone, salaried,
employees or businessmen, high net worth individuals and NRI's. The
unmatched package of UTI Bank Savings Bank account given below brings
the benefits of better, efficient and hassle free banking.
ATM Network
A Savings Bank Account with UTI Bank entitles you to a free ATM card,
which enables you to access your account anytime and at any ATM centre
across the country. You can withdraw and deposit money and cheques
with your ATM card. Unlike most other ATMs, a UTI Bank ATM allows you
to withdraw up to Rs. 20,000 a day. In addition, cash can be withdrawn
from any of the ATMs against your MasterCard (domestic/international).
7-Day Banking
At select branches spread over the country, you can bank on all the 7
days of the week (except for public holidays), over extended working
hours.
Telebanking
Telebanking service provides you instant access to your account. It offers
you a wide range of services over the phone such as account information,
Balance Enquiry, Transaction Details, Statement of Account, Status of
your Cheque , etc.
iConnect-Internet Banking
This is the concept of "the Bank on your desk-top". You can look-up the
status of your account, query and undertake a range of financial
transactions, simply by clicking the mouse. Now don't you think you have
a great opportunity to see yourself laughing your way to the bank?
This symbol is used to indicate both the beginning and the end of your program.
Identifies an activity or task in the process that changes an output. Usually the name of the activity or task is written inside.
Manual Operation. If it is important to indicate that an operation is manually performed, you can use this instead of the square Operations Process symbol.
Document: indicates a physical paper on which information is recorded.
The document symbol, superimposed on itself, indicates the presence of multiple copies of a document. At left, for example, a document in triplicate is shown. When a document is shown in this manner, usually the destination of each copy is traced.
Input: The materials, equipment, information, people, money, or environmental conditions that are required to carry out the process.
Identifies a decision or branching point in the process. Write the decision inside. Label each path emerging from the Decision Diamond with the appropriate options, usually “yes” or “no.” Decision diamonds must post a question. Questions should be worded as specifically and objectively as possible, so that everyone will interpret them in the same way.
Start/End
Operation, Process
Multi-part document
Document
Manual Operation
Decision
Input
Indicates that the flow has been stopped in order to evaluate the quality of the output or to obtain an approval to proceed.
Indicates when something must wait or is placed in temporary storage.
Indicates movement of the output between locations.
Indicates that an output is in storage. Storage differs from delay based on the duration of the wait and the need for some type of authorization to retrieve the item.
An On-Map connector indicates that an output from this process is continued elsewhere on the process map. It is used to reduce awkward or confusing lines across a map. In order to help the reader follow the path, the same letter is used in a corresponding connector posted where the process resumes.
Off-Page connector: This indicates that the flow continues on another process map. Record the page index (H) and the connector number (6) inside the symbol to show where the reader will pick up the flow. Conversely, on the continuation map, record the page index (C) for the previous map, but use the same connector number (6) so that the reader can follow the path.
The technocrats, bureaucrats, corporate executives, intellects,
white-collar and blue collar employees have different needs and
requirements and therefore the banking organizations should know
their expectations.
INSTITUTIONAL SECTOR
In this sector we find different categories of organizations. Some
of the organizations are known as charitable organizations, some of
them are cultural/ social organizations, some of them are industrial and
many of them are profit making and many are philanthropic and many
of them are related to trade and commerce. It is natural that the needs
and requirements vis-à-vis the level of expectations cant be identical in
all cases. To satisfy and to increase the market share it is imperative
that the banking organizations are familiar with changing needs and
requirements. The emerging trends in the social transformation
process determine the hierarchy of needs.
Institutional Segment Sub- Segment
Charitable Trusts
Individual OriginationsChamber of CommerceTrade and Commerce
Health/EducationSports Org
Philanthropic Organizations
Complaint Handling-HDFC Bank
Whatever a service firm may do for customer, even the best
firms are going to find themselves facing complaints from customers
who feel that they are not being treated fairly. In dealing with these
situations, it is important to know how to diffuse them and then turn
them into positive experiences for all involved.
However, when it came to complaint handling, HDFC Bank turned
to the airline industry for inspiration. Impressed by the way an airline
takes care of its customers from the time they enter the airport till
they collect their luggage after landing, the bank maps the customer
flow at its branch. The first change it brought to its branches was the
'May I help you' desk at the reception to guide the customer to the
right counter. Next, it laid down efficiency parameters for each sub-
process carried out at the branch. "We are constantly fine-tuning our
processes to reduce time taken, especially on routine tasks. We
monitor how long it takes for customer transactions as well as
complaints to get processed".
The bank's 'moments of truth' surveys too are modeled after the
airline industry's satisfaction surveys. These are given to customers
just before they exit a branch after a transaction.
HDFC Bank introduced changes for consumer convenience,
starting with the reception area and with good reason. A traditional
branch has always been an infrequent user's nightmare: cryptic boards
are placed on counters leaving one as confused as ever, bank officials
sit behind wire-meshes making it impossible to seek any guidance, and
the long queues are frustrating, all the more so when you realize you
stood in the wrong long line. But HDFC branch models are trying to
address this confusion, as well as the jail-like counters.
HDFC believes that unless they change to create convenience for
that customer, and add to his brand experience, they will fail to
capture the loyalty they're trying so hard to earn. And unless they
achieve this loyalty and increase their share of the customer's wallet
substantially, the majority of their retail customers will continue to be
unprofitable for them.
COMPLAINT RESOLUTION MODEL (CRM)
HDFC bank takes complaint not as a mere complaint but as an
issue. They have got this unique CRM technique where in if there is
any complaint either by an employee or a customer in any branch; it
will be looked into and resolved in 24 hours. Within 24 hrs, if the
branch manager does not handle the complaint it goes to the higher
authority. And then again if the same complaint is not handled in 12
hours by the higher authority it goes to the Managing Director. Once if
it reaches the MD, either the branch manager is sacked or necessary
action is taken against him.
CASE STUDY-I
Phase I
The reason why the customer decided to open an account with
ABC Bank was their constant boasting of being the best online trading
bank in India. So one day the customer called their customer center to
open an account. The lady was very polite and after talking with her for
some 5 minutes, she told the customer that one of their
representatives will visit her soon. She gave the lady her office address
and asked her to send the person to her office. The next day the
customer gathered all the necessary documents to open an account. It
took exactly a week for their representative to turn up and on her
inquiring about the delay, he gave her a silly reason, like he was busy
with many more clients and so could not come on the promised date.
She felt that the employees attitude towards the customers depend
upon their mood on that particular day.
Phase II
Within a month the customer got a letter from the bank saying
that her account has been activated. So the next day she went to her
nearest branch to deposit a cheque. As she entered inside, it was over
crowded with people in each and every corner; most of them were the
employees themselves. In most of the branches that she had visited in
last 5 months, she had got the feeling that the branches were over
employed.
Phase III
After going through all this she decided to use their Phone
banking facilities, and it’s did not turn out any better than Central
Railway Inquiry. Every hour you find some different people to answer
your query, and most of the time you are put on HOLD.
Phase IV
They used to claim that their trump card was the ATM. To some
extent it was ok but what the customer noticed is that most of the
ATMs are located in a very isolated place and its down during evening
time.
The Finale
Here is something that made the customer to finally say
GOODBYE to ABC. Initially they told her that their share trading service
is free, so she did most of her trading through ABC direct. The service
was not of much help. Just a week from then, she got a mail asking her
to pay for using share-trading service. Again she got in touch with the
concerned person and informed them about the mail and also that she
was no more interested in continuing her account in ABC. Then they
informed her that this mail is not for current year it’s the advance
payment for the coming year. In the end she had to pay them for the
service, which she never utilized. She stopped using ABC Bank and
asked all her colleagues never to have an account with the bank after
her experience.
ANALYSIS OF THE CASE
As can be seen in this case, there is a definite failure in the
service delivery. Now apply the different dimensions of service quality
to this particular case and find out reasons for the failure.
RATER
Reliability: The lady assured the customer that the representative would
visit her the next day. Instead he took a week to turn up. Also instead
of apologizing to the customer, he gave the excuse that he was busy
with other clients and so he could not attend to him. In a service
industry the customer is the king and you should make each customer
feel special. As can be seen, the attitude of the employees in the bank
is indifferent. In fact, the customer concludes his review by saying that
the employee’s attitude towards the customer depends on their mood.
This shows tremendous inconsistency in service delivery.
Assurance: Here the staff has failed to live up to its promise. Instead of
coming in a day as promised, the representative came after a week.
He didn’t even apologize for his mistake. As a result the customer was
inconvenienced. The customer was angry that the bank made false
promise just to woo customers. Also she was told that the share
trading service was free. Afterwards she was made to pay for the
service, which she had hardly used.
Tangible: The tangible cues here will be the facilities that they provide,
like the phone banking and the ATM. The customer here describes the
ATM service as okay. She says that it works only sometimes. She
compares their phone banking facility to the central railway enquiry,
where every hour different people come to answer his query and most
of the time he was put on hold.
Empathy: From the case, it seems that they are not understanding
towards the customer grievances. All the branches this customer has
gone to have been very crowded. There was no effort on the part of
the employee’s to help this customer. Also in the case of their phone
banking, they make the customer wait for long periods of time without
answering their query.
Responsiveness: In the case of this customer, the bank and its staff were
not able to respond quickly. When the particular representative was
not able to reach the next day, the bank should have sent another
representative in his place. Also they should not have charged this
customer for using the share trading service, especially since it was a
mistake on their part.
Service Recovery
Service recovery pertains to the actions taken by an organization
In response to a service failure. When a customer complains he
expects 3 types of fairness.
Outcome fairness: In this case the customer decided to use the share
trading service as she was told it was free. She did not find the service
of much help. In the end she had to pay for a service, which she hardly
used. The bank should not have charged the customer for this service
especially since it was a mistake on their part.
Procedural fairness: When the customer entered the bank to deposit a
cheque, she found it overcrowded. There was no effort made by any of
the employees to help this customer. Using the phone banking facility
was also not of much help.
Interaction fairness: After promising the customer that the representative
would come the next day, he came after a week. After committing this
mistake, he made no effort to apologize for it. Instead he gave the
excuse that he was too busy with other clients to attend to him.
Fish-Bone
CUSTOMER EQUIPMENT FRONT PROCEDURE
DELAY IN SERVICE
OTHERS MATERIAL SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Equipment: - Phone banking system of ABC Bank was really bad. Every
hour there was a new person on the phone and most of the time the
customer had to wait as the phone was kept on hold. The customer
had some difficulty using the ATM machines, as they were located on
isolated places, which was very inconvenient for the customer to
access. Secondly, during the evening time they were not working. The
customer had been told about that the share trading facility was free
but later on they charged for the next year’s trading in advance. So,
there was certainly a failure in equipments.
Material: The material aspect of HDFC bank would be its ATM and
Phone Banking services that are described by the customer as a “total
flop” and a waste of time. This shows a complete material failure, as
the services are not up to the extent of the customer’s perception and
expectations.
Front line staff: The customer has rated employee’s attitude towards
him as ‘depends upon the mood’. In a service industry this is not
acceptable, whatever might be the mood his attitude towards the
customers should be good. The front line staff’s job is to make the
work easier for the customer and not to complicate further which is not
the case in this particular case study.
Supporting Activities: The supporting staff in this case would include the
front desk receptionist who fails to act in haste and inform the same to
the concerned representative. Also, the customer is not informed
about the different service charges, which the back office should have
notified by sending some mails or notifications
Procedure: In the second phase the customer went to the bank to
deposit cheque, she found out that the place was very crowded and
there were no proper signboards for the counters to guide her.
Information: In phase 1, the customer was told that the bank
representative would be coming to his place in a day’s time. But these
representatives came after a week. So there was wrong information
given on the part of the customer. Again in the final phase, the
customer was not given any information about the next year’s share
trading charges and charged her in advance.
Company Profile
ICICI Bank is India's second-largest bank with total assets of over
Rs. 1 trillion and a network of about 540 branches and offices and over
1,000 ATMs. ICICI Bank offers a wide range of banking products and
financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety
of delivery channels and through its specialized subsidiaries and
affiliates in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life
insurance, venture capital, asset management and information
technology. ICICI Bank's equity shares are listed in India on stock
exchanges at Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Vadodara, the Stock
Exchange, Mumbai and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited
and its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are listed on the New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
ICICI Bank was originally promoted in 1994 by ICICI Limited, an
Indian financial institution, and was its wholly owned subsidiary. ICICI's
shareholding in ICICI Bank was reduced to 46% through a public
offering of shares in India in fiscal 1998, an equity offering in the form
of ADRs listed on the NYSE in fiscal 2000, ICICI Bank's acquisition of
Bank of Madura Limited in an all-stock amalgamation in fiscal 2001,
and secondary market sales by ICICI to institutional investors in fiscal
2001 and fiscal 2002. ICICI was formed in 1955 at the initiative of the
World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of Indian
industry. The principal objective was to create a development financial
institution for providing medium-term and long-term project financing
to Indian businesses. In the 1990s, ICICI transformed its business from
a development financial institution offering only project finance to a
diversified financial services group offering a wide variety of products
and services, both directly and through a number of subsidiaries and
affiliates like ICICI Bank. In 1999, ICICI become the first Indian
company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia
to be listed on the NYSE.
After consideration of various corporate structuring alternatives
in the context of the emerging competitive scenario in the Indian
banking industry, and the move towards universal banking, the
managements of ICICI and ICICI Bank formed the view that the merger
of ICICI with ICICI Bank would be the optimal strategic alternative for
both entities, and would create the optimal legal structure for the ICICI
group's universal banking strategy. The merger would enhance value
for ICICI shareholders through the merged entity's access to low-cost
deposits, greater opportunities for earning fee-based income and the
ability to participate in the payments system and provide transaction-
banking services. The merger would enhance value for ICICI Bank
shareholders through a large capital base and scale of operations,
seamless access to ICICI's strong corporate relationships built up over
five decades, entry into new business segments, higher market share
in various business segments, particularly fee-based services, and
access to the vast talent pool of ICICI and its subsidiaries. In October
2001, the Boards of Directors of ICICI and ICICI Bank approved the
merger of ICICI and two of its wholly owned retail finance subsidiaries,
ICICI Personal Financial Services Limited and ICICI Capital Services
Limited, with ICICI Bank. Shareholders of ICICI and ICICI BANK
approved the merger in January 2002, by the High Court of at
Ahmedabad in March 2002, and by the High Court of Judicature at
Bombay and the Reserve Bank of India in April 2002. Consequent to
the merger, the ICICI group's financing and banking operations, both
wholesale and retail, have been integrated in a singularly.
CASE STUDY-II
The Customer’s Association with the Bank
The customer became an ICICI bank customer in 1998 when he
became an NRI customer. Things were rather mundane and normal.
Compared to the other big nationalized banks and Citibank, the
customer felt ICICI Bank was the best and got some great feedback
from friends and relatives alike. His initial relationship was excellent.
This continued till 2001. All the facilities were of the highest grade.
Their email follow-ups, request resolution, customer service and
everything they served were of the highest grade. They also baffled
him by calling him overseas with regard to certain transactions and
request. So, he would have given a 5 star rating in 1998. But it did not
continue for long.
What has changed since then?
This bank grew leaps and bounds ever since the IPO in 1998 as
well as the NYSE listing in 2000. The numbers of customers were huge
and the merger with Bank of Madura added to the woes of the service.
As there is a saying “Quality is inversely proportional to Quantity”,
ICICI bank yielded to this very true philosophy. The customer sent a
letter to their NRI center regarding a change of address for his NRI
account. This took considerable amount of time since ICICI misplaced
the letter twice and he head o mail the letter again. This frustrated and
infuriated the customer. Then, they sent a courier to the customer but
at the wrong address. They sent one to the wrong address, and other
one to the right address but with the wrong password for the bank
account.
Snippets from mail correspondence that took place between the
customer and the banking personnel are provided as follows providing
us with an insight:
If doing an address change should take such a long time and if your processes are
so sterner and baseless with a mediocre customer-care follow-up, I definitely need to
reconsider my options. I had opened an account in ICICI though I had quite a few
options for an NRI account, in hope of having an excellent customer service.
I’ll have to rethink if my decision was correct. I have received similar complaints from
my friends as well stating that the ’’Quality of ICICI has gone down with Quantity’’, I
would definitely like to talk to some manager for NRI Services, for the same
matter. Revert to me, if you still have any queries.
Mr. XYZ
The Reply
NRI Cell <[email protected]> wrote: Dear Mr. XYZ, We apologize for the delay in our response. With reference to your mail we would like to informyou that we have not received your letter for address change.Blah Blah Blah………
In this letter instead of requesting the customer for sending the
letter again and apologizing to him, the bank authority says that the
customer hasn’t send any letter at all thus making it a CRITICAL
INCIDENCE for the customer.
Customer’s Final Conclusion of the Bank
All things considered, the ICICI bank is far ahead of many of the
nationalized banks. As an NRI customer and a person used to excellent
banking for quite sometime, I feel that this bank has some mediocre
facilities and service. I will be reevaluating the opinion at a later point. I
am just having an account after many unpleasant services and
incidents.
Will the customer recommend ICICI Bank to anyone? A big NO at least
for the time being until the bank makes efforts to upgrade their
services.
Case Study Analysis: RATER
R: Reliability
The Case Study shows that the bank was extremely reliable and
trustworthy initially. But after the surge and swelling of customers,
inefficiency has crept in r to the bank. The bank is unreliable only on
the basis of the service that it provides, but when the question of
financial reliability arises the bank seems to be in very sound and
secure.
A : Assurance
The customer Mr. XYZ was rest assured about the fact that the
bank was very professional in its approach. But after the bank
conducted the mistakes of sending the password at the wrong address
and then sending the wrong password at the right address made sure
that the bank lost the dignity of being a financial institution that
provides assurance. This had a deep impact on the customer.
T: Tangibility
As we can see when the customer Mr. XYZ wanted to change the
address for his NRI account he had to send 3 mails to the bank out of
which 2 of them were lost by the company, later on the first
confirmation was sent at the wrong address and the second
confirmation was sent at the right address with the wrong password.
The whole process took around 2 months, which is a very long time to
take by any standards.
E: Empathy
The bank was very co-operative and sympathetic towards
customers before the phase of their IPO, the best example of this
would be that the company also called its NRI customers overseas for
certain transactions this showed that the bank was indeed very good
towards its customers, but after the IPO, the bank just lost all loyalty it
earned, it took the bank almost 2 months to change the address and
when the customer Mr. XYZ wrote a mail to the bank for its mediocre
service provided the bank in reply blamed the customer for its mistake.
Thus, ICICI Bank performs miserably on this count too and thus loses
the customer.
R: Responsiveness
The company lost this quality after the IPO. The company took
almost 2 months to change the address and only after sending 3 mails
was the job done, the bank management was also very unresponsive
in apologizing to its customers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
SERVICES MARKETING– M.K.RAMPAL & S.L.GUPTA
SERVICES MARKETING–VALARIE.A.ZEITHAML & MARY JO BITNER