A few Indian Banks have embarked on a modular approach to tap the extraordinary market of both banked and largely unbanked population in India. At the same time, these banks are slipping on “trustworthiness”, “brand image” and are well aware of the growing “customer dissatisfaction” towards their services. I have had my own share of experiences that, in comparison to my experiences in banks in other geographies, is a grim reminder of the milestones far ahead.
Digital Credit Union (DCU), USA
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DCU, an internet only bank, is the only bank with which I have some very pleasant memories of banking. It has a modular approach and perhaps the best bank for small-time customers that are ignored by big banks.
• Modular approach that encourages modularity and commonality
• Optimized System: Very consistent service across phone and internet.
• Human interaction is professional, empathetic and customer-friendly.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Canada
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Most of the interaction was over the phone except for a couple of meetings in person. Overall, it was a very painless experience as appointments were on time, tasks executed as scheduled by the bank. The entire lifecycle was very well streamlined and, perhaps, it is an excellent example of a system orchestrated by straight-through processes.
• Modular approach that encourages modularity and commonality
• Optimized system: Experience of a consistent service across different channels.
• Human interaction is professional, empathetic and customer-friendly.
ICICI Bank, Canada
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This was a very intriguing experience on both positive and negative notes. On a positive note, the loan process was complete without even a single meeting with a human. That was fantastic!! On a negative note, the communication bottlenecks, in terms of improper acknowledgements and inaccurate information, almost nullified the positive experience.
• Modular approach that encourages modularity and commonality
• Not-so-optimized system: Experience is inconsistent across different channels. Inadequate training of staff is a major factor.
• Human interaction is fairly professional, hardly empathetic and relatively better in customer service.
ICICI Bank, India
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ICICI Bank is one of the very few banks that demonstrate that they do attempt to improve their service. However, whenever I enter any ICICI bank I am wary of people that aggressively sell various products like personal loans, credit cards, insurance etc.,. Too many customers, enticed by misleading offers, have ensured a fairly large customer base and, consequently, the IT platform and the environment is unable to support the customer base. “Customer churn” is obvious and is definitely a threat that needs to be addressed pro-actively.
• Modular approach that encourages modularity and commonality
• Not-so-optimized system: Experience is inconsistent across different channels. Inadequate training of staff is a major factor.
• Human interaction is relatively better. A lot more improvement is required to sustain the growth going forward.
State Bank of India, India
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Describing the experience as “Stone Age” is perhaps an overstatement. However, the customer service was dismal right from the beginning. One would hardly have an opportunity to feel like a customer because one is not treated like a customer.
• “Silos” is the name of the game.
• The idea of “Optimization” is farfetched.
• Human interaction is pathetic. An employee definitely feels like a customer.
To be fair, ICICI Bank is leading the banking industry, in India, in terms of modularization, customer service and globalization. While we pat ourselves on our back for our achievements in the banking industry, we need to set global benchmarks. ICICI bank, India’s largest commercial bank with a market capitalization of $25 billion, is only one tenth the size of Citibank. China has five banks in the top 50 global list while India has none.
Indian banks have a great opportunity to grow where ninety percent of the population uses no bank to open a bank account. The advancement in mobile banking promises a revolutionary way of banking with the 270 million odd mobile subscribers and an innovative channel to reach the unbanked population.
The bank with a SOA based platform that can help sustain the balance between modular banking and customer service has a great potential to be a market leader.
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