India-based banking group Icici Bank announced on Monday it has launched its banking services on WhatsApp in oder to enable retail customers to undertake in a “slew of banking requirements” from their home.
Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, stated that through WhatsApp, retail customers may now execute a host of their banking requirements on their own, without visiting a branch.
“With the growing prominence of social media in every-day life, we believe that this would add immense convenience to our customers, as it allows them to bank while they are on social media.”
Icici Bank also reported that any ICICI Bank savings account customer who is also on WhatsApp may access the new service and customers carrying only a credit card of the bank can use this service to “Block/Unblock” their card and non-ICICI Bank customers may also use this instant service to know the location of the Bank’s branches / ATMs in their vicinity.
The WhatsApp launch comes less than two weeks after ICICI Bank launched its digital banking platform, ICICIStack. As previously reported, the platform will offer digital banking services and Application Programme Interface (API) to ensure banking experience to customers in retail and business industries, which includes retailers, merchants, fintechs, large e-commerce firms, corporates. The platform’s description reads:
“ICICIStack offers nearly 500 services that covers almost all banking requirements of customers, in one place. The list includes digital account opening (instant savings and current account opening), loan solutions (instant personal loans, instant credit cards, instant home loan sanctions, instant car loans, instant overdraft facility, instant business loans), payment solutions (digital payment solutions like UPI, bill payments using Bharat Bill Payment System), investments (instant FD, PPF, NPS and AI led robo-advisory for other investments), insurance (term and health insurances digitally) and care solutions (protection for life, health, car and home).”