ICICI WhatsApp banking service launched amid coronavirus lockdown in India

ICICI WhatsApp banking service : Indian private banking group ICICI Bank has introduced banking services on Whatsapp to serve its customers during the ongoing nationwide lockdown in the country to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

ICICI Bank expects its banking services delivered through WhatsApp to address various banking needs of its retail customers amid the government’s order for the public not to come out of their homes unless it is really essential.

With the bank’s WhatsApp services, its retail customers can check account balance, their last three transactions, credit card limit, information of pre-approved loan offers, in addition to credit and debit card status in a secured fashion with end-to-end encryption for all messages.

The bank’s customers can also get information on the nearest three ATMs and branches of the bank in their area through the ICICI WhatsApp banking service.

The bank’s customers who are using WhatsApp can use the new banking service. Apart from that, customers having only ICICI Bank credit card can utilize the new service to block or unblock their card.

Customers of other banks can also use the ICICI WhatsApp banking service to find out the location of the bank’s branches or ATMs near their location.

According to the ICICI Bank, customers need to save its verified WhatsApp profile number 9324953001 in their contacts on the mobile and send a ‘Hi’ message from the registered mobile number to it. After sending the message, the bank will respond with a list of available services.

ICICI Bank introduces banking services on WhatsApp to serve customers. Photo courtesy of Sumedh/Wikipedia.org.

The ICICI WhatsApp banking service follows the launch of the ICICIStack, a set of digital banking and Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) for guaranteeing uninterrupted banking experience to its retail and business customers.

ICICIStack provides around 500 services that cover most of the banking requirements of customers with some of them being digital account opening, payment solutions, loan solutions, investments, and care solutions.

Commenting on the launch of the ICICI WhatsApp banking service, Anup  Bagchi – ICICI Bank executive director said: “It has always been our endeavour to offer improved convenience to our customers. Recently, we had rolled out ‘ICICIStack’, the most comprehensive digital platform in the country by a bank as it can facilitate crores of customers to continue all their banking, digitally and from a remote location, without visiting a bank branch.

“Now, we have introduced this service on WhatsApp, one of the most popular instant messaging applications in the world. Our retail customers can execute a host of their banking requirements on their own, without visiting a branch. The services are instantaneous and secure.”