FAIR TO CUSTOMER, FAIR TO BANK

The Bank’s philosophy of ‘Fair to Customer, Fair to Bank’ emphasises the need to deliver fair value to customers, including selling products and offer services which meet societal needs and are in the interest of customers.

ICICI Bank is continuously seeking to create value across the customer life cycle through decongested delivery, zero or low-touch operations and enhanced customer engagement.

The customer is at the core of all initiatives at the Bank, and this strategic approach has enabled unlocking of the potential value of the relationship with the customer. As we walk this path, the Bank is continuously seeking to create value across the customer life cycle through decongested delivery, zero or low-touch operations and enhanced customer engagement.

In fiscal 2022, the Bank further progressed on its transition from a culture of customer satisfaction to a culture of customer delight and advocacy. The philosophy of 'Fair to Customer, Fair to Bank' was emphasised to drive mutually beneficial customer relationships. With the objective of pushing the boundaries of customer experience, end-to-end customer journeys across products, processes and channels were mapped and based on the insights gathered from Net Promoter Score (NPS), Voice of Customer and Root Cause Analysis, key customer service initiatives were implemented.

Some key initiatives taken during fiscal 2022 were:

Enhancing and decongesting the account opening experience.
- The account opening process for retail products were streamlined such that the existing data and KYC documents with the Bank were considered for an existing customer wanting to avail a new retail product.
- For current account opening, Smartform 2.0 (a single-page account opening form) was launched with minimal data entry, enabling quick turnaround time for current account opening and a seamless account opening experience.
- An e-application form was launched for personal loans, which eliminates the need of physical application form collection and wet signature from the customer.
Customer experience on the Bank’s digital channels were enhanced.
- Features on iMobile Pay were improved enabling deposits, investments in mutual funds and auto recharge of FASTag. UPI services were introduced for fund transfers for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) customers. The mobile app now also allows enhanced credit card controls, converting multiple credit card transactions into Equated Monthly Instalments (EMI) and reissuing a blocked credit card.
- New features were introduced on the internet banking platform for retail customers like scan and pay for credit card bills, a revamped dashboard for NRI customers and digitisation of mortgage servicing for 11 key services such as account summary, part payment, rate conversion, and others.
- Services introduced on the corporate internet banking platform included easy bill payments with multiple biller registrations, auto reversal for failed online NEFT transactions and removal of limit on count of NEFT transactions during cut-off and holiday period.
Insta offerings were launched in the areas of onboarding of cash management services and trade.
An initiative to decongest activities in the client-facing channels including sales, credit and branches was undertaken by moving about 250 services to the backend for processing. This led to significant easing for the front-end staff and enabling more value-added engagement with customers.
Online Assist, an industry-first initiative, was implemented for reversal of credit card charges. This enables real-time decisioning on reversal of charges using data science and instantly posting the credit to the customer’s account with zero human intervention.
The availability of a service desk for customers using payment and collection services, Connected Banking, EazyPay POS and EazyPay UPI was extended to 12 hours on all days compared to the earlier nine hours and only on weekdays.
A Multi-Channel Campaign Management (MCCM) framework, which is based on Machine Learning/ Deep Learning driven actions, was introduced. This feature enables personalised customer communication across four different life stages.
Banking services were enabled on tablets through Branch on the Move (BOTM), which allows branch employees to address the customer’s transaction requirements in a fast and seamless manner.

ICICI Bank’s value propositions for customers and the endeavour to create a positive customer experience have led to a sustained improvement in the Bank’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) across products and services, a key metric for measuring customer advocacy. The Bank also ensures continuous engagement with its customers through multiple channels including through branch employees, surveys, social media and channels for raising queries and grievances.

While creating seamless and convenient banking experiences for customers, the Bank also recognises the customers’ need to understand personal finance better through reliable information that is easily accessible. To address this need, the Bank launched a unique digital initiative 'The Orange Book' in fiscal 2022, a monthly e-magazine that educates customers about personal finance and helps them to take better financial decisions. The Orange Book with a monthly readership of about 1.2 million, covers an array of financial topics from investment planning, safe banking to tax savings, financial preparedness and much more. To improve the accessibility of the book, which is currently available only in English, the Bank intends to launch it in regional languages across all digital channels.

The Bank’s websites are designed to communicate the most suited products to the customers. With key interactive features such as Life Stage Solutions and Find the Right Product, the Bank endeavours to ease the decision-making process for our customers. Find the Right Product is a feature on the internet banking platform that helps customers to find relevant products based on their needs and displays personalised offers and engagement tools. There is also a section where customers can choose products based on their life stage needs.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL

The Bank has developed an effective complaints handling mechanism for employees and customers. The mechanisms are defined through robust Board-approved policies, and is governed through Board oversight and reporting.

Customer experience is at the core of all engagement, and this includes ensuring that the products offered are based on an assessment of the customer’s financial needs and right-selling.

The objectives of the Bank’s grievance redressal mechanism include fair treatment of customers, timely resolution of complaints, and educating customers about their rights and enable them to take informed decisions. In this regard, the key principles governing grievance redressal include fairness, transparency, accessibility, escalation, customer education and reviews at multiple levels. The Bank provides multiple channels for customers to complain including the branch, call centre and digital channels.

The Bank has a well-defined framework to monitor key customer service metrics. The Customer Service Committee of the Board and the Standing Committee on Customer Service meet on a regular basis. These forums deliberate on issues faced by the customers and the initiatives taken by the Bank for enhancing customer service.

ICICI Bank complies with the 'Customer Rights Policy' which enshrines the basic rights of our customers. These rights include Right to Fair Treatment; Right to Transparency, Fair and Honest Dealing; Right to Suitability; Right to Privacy; Right to Grievance Redress and Compensation. These policies can be accessed on the Bank’s website.

The Bank’s grievance redressal mechanism is well-defined and comprehensive, with clear turnaround times for providing resolution to customers. All complaints received by the Bank are recorded in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and tracked for end-to-end resolution. The Bank also has an escalation matrix built in the CRM system to ensure that customer requirements are appropriately addressed within stipulated timelines. Further, the Bank has appointed senior retired bankers as the Internal Ombudsmen of the Bank. The Customer Service Committee of the Board, the Standing Committee on Customer Service and the Branch Level Customer Service Committees monitor customer service at different levels.

During fiscal 2022, the number of complaints received from customers declined significantly.

For details on customer complaints, refer to page 238.

DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY

ICICI Bank is committed to protecting the privacy of individuals whose personal data it holds, and processing such personal data in a way that is consistent with applicable laws. It is important for employees and businesses to protect customer data and follow the applicable privacy laws in India and overseas locations to ensure safety and security of data. We believe that the data privacy framework should be in line with the evolving regulatory changes and digital transformation.

The Bank has a global presence in several overseas jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Singapore, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Dubai International Financial Centre and Bahrain. We are committed to ensuring compliance with applicable laws across these jurisdictions. We have an integrated and centralised strategy for achieving data privacy compliance across all jurisdictions. A set of principles have been defined with respect to handling customer data. There is a mechanism in place for reporting any form of personal data incident which is accessible to all employees in the Bank. The Personal Data Incident Handling Forum (PDIHF) comprises of the Data Protection Officer (DPO) and senior members from the Information Security Group, Operational Risk Management Group, Fraud Management Group, Human Resources, Compliance and the Legal Team. Any kind of personal data related incidents reported through the service request undergoes a detailed investigation and report of same is presented to PDIHF on a monthly basis.

The Bank periodically updates its Personal Data Protection Standard to cover the personal data protection regulatory requirements for the Bank and its overseas offices to reflect the changes in data protection laws and regulations. The Personal Data Protection Standard of the Bank was reviewed by an international law firm and strengthened last in fiscal 2021.

Privacy regulations require the personal data of customers to be protected throughout its entire life cycle. Accordingly, the Bank has undertaken several measures such as categorising all personal data and sensitive personal data as ‘Confidential Information’, keeping record of all its processing activities, entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with employees and third-parties who are privy to personal data of the customers and providing customers the option to exercise various rights which they enjoy under applicable data protection regulations and incident handling procedures.

There are e-learning modules specifically on personal data and its protection to build awareness among our employees.

The Bank’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) oversees all privacy related developments as a data processor for international banking business and as a data controller for NRI and remittance businesses. Various data privacy awareness initiatives and periodic trainings are conducted by the Data Privacy team. A Privacy Steering Committee meets every quarter, and oversees various privacy related initiatives. Further, the Bank’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics covers guidelines on customer privacy and confidentiality of data.