Indian Bank ICICI branches out

ICICI, the Indian bank, is proposing to entice UK customers over the coming year by branching out into the personal loans, insurance and current account markets.

ICICI has experienced considerable growth in the last 4 years. It currently has 80,000 customers with a further 5,000 joining each month.

ICICI was established in the UK in 2003 and is a subsidiary of India’s second-largest bank. It is creating a lot of attention due to its HiSave internet account which offers 6.41% and is currently the best internet-based account on the market in terms of rate.

The Indian bank can offer such a competitively high rate because it uses technology created to service its 23 million customers in India, which reduces costs and creates savings the bank can pass on to the customer.

In spite of the high rates, savers are wary of the bank due to lack of knowledge of the ICICI brand. Furthermore, there are concerns over its customer service record and its reluctance until recently to sign up to the banking industry’s code of practice.

The bank’s managing director and head of compliance, Kiran Talwar, was asked about the length of time it takes for customer queries to be dealt with. He said the bank will be carrying out an analysis over the next few months of the way it communicates with its customers in an attempt to reduce the 24-48 hour waiting period for queries.

ICICI has recently been granted permission to move into the insurance mediation business in the UK by the Financial Services Authority. The bank is also looking at entering the personal loans market, which would be provided online. Furthermore, it is also looking at the possibility of launching a current account offer.

ICICI Bank (formerly Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) is India’s largest private sector bank in market capitalisation and second largest overall in terms of assets.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Indian Bank ICICI branches out