Anytime, Anywhere

WANT to open a bank account, withdraw or deposit money, issue cheques, get a draft made? Do it sitting at home, or at the nearest ATM (automated teller machine). Go on, take a loan, transact shares or shuffle your portfolio around. Going out of town? Don't worry, your account will travel alongside. Soon, you'll be able to do your banking work on a home computer or at the Worldwide Website.

Welcome to the latest frontiers in retail banking, where the customer is truly king. Where the buzzwords are convenience, relationship, value addition and special care. Where brick and mortar branches are giving way to personalised services and innovative products, delivered at the customer's doorstep, on his terms. It's a world where your bank remains open till late in the evening, there's an ATM next to your favourite restaurant, and you just have to call up and they deliver the cash home.

Of course, there's hard-headed pragmatism at work here. For one, retail customers still provide banks with the cheapest source of money. For another, as Ashoke Dutt, head, global consumer bank, Citibank, says, "banks worldwide are moving away from the high-risk high-reward areas, out of the boom and bust cycles". Consumer banks in the US enjoy healthy price-earning ratios of 10-12 per cent, credit card banks get 15-16 per cent and consumer fin-ance companies, 20-24 per cent. The third factor is domestic. The inter-bank call money market, where interest rates rule steep, is no longer as lucrative. And corporates, the traditional clients of foreign banks, have drifted to cheaper modes of raising funds. Says Ramesh Sut-hoo of ANZ Grindlays: "The thrust in retail banking has to be seen in the context of the banker's role being eliminated as the middleman between corporates and the money market as well as foreign banks looking at expansion in consumer markets in the emerging economies." Banks have realised that survival lies in a strong retail asset base.

Easier said than done. The competition remains tough—nationalised banks demand little and get many customers, while finance companies offer more and more icing on the same cake. So there's no option but to innovate, use technology creatively, target and segment your markets like the fast-moving consumer goods industry. Says S.K. Sharma, vice-president, Timesbank: "The outlook is changing from the need to provide the right product at the right place and at the right time, to any product anytime and anywhere." Agrees Girish Mara-the, vice-president, HDFC Bank: "Every bank is thinking in terms of a lifetime relationship with the customer by providing different products at different stages of his life so that all his needs are met under one roof."

The strategy is three-pronged: easy accessibility, which includes homebanking, telebanking and ATMs; package deals, which include centralised and remote banking, freebies and incentives; and luxury banking, for special (read moneyed) customers. Says Anuroop Singh, head-retail bank, Bank of America: "Every banking product has three layers of value content: the core content which comprises the basic product like a current account, the support content that props the product, and the delight content which touches the customer's heart. We try to add meat to the support and delight content."

Anytime, anywhere: With customer convenience the planetary guide for bankers, the biggest innovation today has been sending banks to the home. If a customer wants to open a bank account, he need not physically visit a branch. One telephone call and the bank sends a representative to do the documentation, take photographs and the authenticity proof. In a week, the customer gets his cheque book and ATM card. Standard Chartered Bank and ANZ Grindlays will send their representatives home even if you seek a loan, for a car, house or against shares. Bank of America will have cash up to Rs 10,000 delivered home in case of an emergency.

Or else, there's always telebanking. Citibank phones are manned round the clock by 300 officers, authorised to raise credit limits on cards, buy and sell shares and mutual funds for the customer. "From 50,000 phone calls a day, Citibank today meets queries from 480,000 customers," says Dutt. The bank is therefore investing big amounts on alternative delivery channels to make anywhere banking a reality.

A big part of which are ATMs. They are at shopping centres, commercial complexes, railway stations, near cinema houses and just about any public place. And they have been upgraded from mere cash dispensers to a full delivery system. At a Citibank ATM, a customer can look at his entire portfolio of shares, switch, buy or sell, in short, conduct all transactions. To make the free ATM card even more attractive, banks like Stanchart have tied up with corporates so that every time you buy a Videocon appliance, or take a subscription to Newsweek or National Geographic, you get a discount.

Wrap it all up: If you prefer human interface, package deals are right for you. Banks like Centurion and HDFC offer centralised banking. If you're in a city, which is not your home town, but where these banks have a branch, you can access your account, make instant remittances and receive collections as all details of your account are stored in a centralised unit and all branches are connected on a realtime basis. If you want to buy a car or a house, pre-packaged loan options from various banks like Citibank or BankAm are available at the dealers' showroom.

There are also relationship offers. Under BankAm's privilege programme, car loan applications of existing customers are pre-qualified and they are offered special rates of interest. BankAm has extended business hours up to 7 pm, seven days a week. Besides freebies galore. BankAm and Stanchart have added lustre to the current account through free cheque books, monthly statements and ATM cards. Other offers include courier pick-ups, cheque-clearing, drafts, standing instructions, stop order advice.

Privileges for the few: Five-star banking services are available to those in the priority list of customers, bringing a certain value to the bank. A Citibank priority banking member is assigned a relationship manager to manage his finances. He can carry out transactions worldwide, have enhanced cash withdrawals or get his cheques picked up from home. A Captain Grindlays' Club member has an independent tax planner at his service, special facilities at ITC hotels, preferential forex rates, free insurance cover... The frontiers are widening everyday. Citi and Stanch-art are talking of PC banking and website banking on the Internet. "Success will go to those who deploy technology with creativity," says Aditya Puri, managing director, HDFC bank. "The service quality will decide the winner," adds Singh of BankAm. "Investment in infrastructure, expertise and the learning experience will be critical," says Dutt. Now that the mountain has come to Mohammed, can the world be far behind?