The Bank introduced banking services on WhatsApp three months ago to enable its retail customers to undertake a slew of banking requirements from their home at a time when they are advised to stay indoors in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Bank has received an encouraging response from its customers in such a short span and aims to double the number in next three months.

To begin with, the Bank introduced services like savings account balance, last three transactions, credit card limit, get details of pre-approved instant loan offers and block/unblock credit & debit card in a secure manner with end-to-end encryption for all messages. Recently, the Bank has added several new features like opening instant savings account in a few minutes, access to pdf for our partnered newspapers / magazines, locating nearby essential stores and opting for loan moratorium to this service. The Bank has also introduced this service to its NRI customers.

Services like checking account balance, last three transactions, applying for loan moratorium and revising credit card limit have seen the maximum usage.

Commenting on the milestone, Bijith Bhaskar, Head- Digital Channels & Partnership, ICICI Bank said, “With the growing prominence of social media in every-day life, we believe that WhatsApp banking has offered immense convenience to our customers as it allows them to bank while they are on WhatsApp. Customers can access a host of their banking requirements on their own, without visiting a branch. Over a million of users have adopted the service in a short span of three months. We have mostly seen that millennials across the country are using WhatsApp for their banking needs. With the encouraging response, we aim to double the number of users in next three months to 2 million.”

Customer has to follow below given quick steps, to avail the banking services on WhatsApp:
• Save number and say ‘Hi’: The customer simply needs to save ICICI Bank’s verified WhatsApp profile number, 86400 86400, to his/her ‘contacts’ on the mobile phone. Send <Hi> to this number from his/her mobile number which is registered with the Bank. The Bank will respond with a list of services available
• Type keyword for service: From the list of services, type the keyword of the service required (keywords are highlighted in the conversation for easy recognition), example : <Balance>, <Block> etc. The service is carried out and displayed instantly.