Gap Analysis of Services Offered in Retail Banking

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking

“ANALYZING THE GAP BETWEEN MANAGEMENT PERCEPTION AND CUSTOMER PERCEPTION WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES OFFERED IN RETAIL BANKING” A grand Project report submitted in Partial Fulfillment of award of MBA Degree


CONTENTS

1. Banking Industry – Introduction 2. Introduction to Retail Banking 3. Banks’ Profile 4. Research Methodology 5. Analysis 6. Suggestions 7. Future of Retail Banking 8. Bibliography


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The report

“Analyzing the Gap between Management Perception and Customer

Perception With Respect To the Services Offered In Retail Banking” aims to assimilate data about the various aspects of Retail banking services, to analyze the perceptions of the management and the customers regarding the services offered in Retail banking and to find out whether any gaps do exist between the services offered and the customer expectations. We have taken 6 Banks which represent the Nationalized, Private and Multinational Banks of the Banking Industry in India-

SBI

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Corporation Bank

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HDFC Bank

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ICICI Bank

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Citibank

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Standard Chartered Bank

The criteria for selecting these banks were their deposit base. We have limited our Service Category to the core services in Retail Banking and a few specialized services. The report is a mixture of Secondary and Primary data, with Questionnaires being our major instrument to collect primary data. Major topics we have attempted to cover in this project are to: -

Explore the services and products offered by the banks to individual customers.

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Understand the perception of the management with respect to services offered by banks.

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Understand the perception of the customers with respect to services offered by banks.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking -

Analyze whether there is a gap between the customer and management perceptions about the services offered by the banks.

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Conclude and enumerate the recommendations that might help to reduce the gaps that exist and foster the relationship of the customer more with the bank.

According to the survey we came to the conclusion that The new game requires new strategies with an accent on innovation for organizational transformation and to achieve world-class competitiveness through improved efficiency and reduced operational cost. An organisation-centric agenda, policy, programme and operationalising accelerating interventions need to strengthen core competencies of Indian banks; while exploring seeding options for future growth. Thrust on innovation is important particularly in the present context of consolidation and convergence both within and across segments of the financial system.


INTRODUCTION Service with a smile: Today’s finicky banking customers will settle for nothing less. The customer has come to realize somewhat belatedly that he is the king. The customer’s choice of one entity over another as his principal bank is determined by considerations of service quality rather than any other factor. He wants competitive loan rates but at the same time also wants his loan or credit card application processed in double quick time. He insists that he be promptly informed of changes in deposit rates and service charges and he bristles with ‘customary rage’ if his bank is slow to redress any grievance he may have. He cherishes the convenience of impersonal net banking but during his occasional visits to the branch he also wants the comfort of personalized human interactions and facilities that make his banking experience pleasurable. In short he wants financial house that will more than just clear his cheque and updates his passbook: he wants a bank that cares and provides great services. So do banks meet these heightened expectations? Is there a gap that exists between the management perception and the customer perception with reference to the services offered in Retail Banking? To find out answers to these questions we undertook a survey of six banks selecting two banks from each of the following: -

Private Banks

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Nationalized Banks

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Multinational Banks

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking A lot of surveys have been done in the past by many agencies to understand the aspect of customer satisfaction and to find out the customer friendly banks. Our research adds the dimension of the ‘Gap Analysis’ between The Management and the customer perceptions regarding the services being offered.

INDUSTRY PROFILE The Banking Regulation Act 1949 defines banking as accepting the purpose of lending or investment, of deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and wthdrawable by cheque, draft, order otherwise. The essential function of a bank is to provide services related to the storing of value and the extending credit. The evolution of banking dates back to the earliest writing, and continues in the present where a bank is a financial institution that provides banking and other financial services. Currently the term bank is generally understood an institution that holds a banking license. Banking licenses are granted by financial supervision authorities and provide rights to conduct the most fundamental banking services such as accepting deposits and making loans. There are also financial institutions that provide certain banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank, a so called non-bank. Banks are a subset of the financial services industry.

The word bank is derived from the Italian “banca” which is derived from German and means bench. The terms bankrupt and "broke" are similarly derived from banca rotta, which refers to an out of business bank, having its bench physically broken. Money lenders in Northern Italy originally did business in open areas, or big open rooms, with each lender working from his own bench or table.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Typically, a bank generates profits from transaction fees on financial services or the interest spread on resources it holds in trust for clients while paying them interest on the asset.

SERVICES TYPICALLY OFFERED BY BANKS Although the type of services offered by a bank depends upon the type of bank and the country, services provided usually include:

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Directly take deposits from the general public and issue checking and savings accounts

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Lend out money to companies and individuals

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Cash checks

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Facilitate money transactions such as wire transfers and cashiers checks

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Issue credit cards, ATM, and debit cards

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online banking

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Storage of valuables, particularly in a safe deposit box

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking TYPES OF BANKS There are several different types of banks including:

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Central banks usually control monetary policy and may be the lender of last resort in the event of a crisis. They are often charged with controlling the money supply, including printing paper money. Examples of central banks are the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve Bank.

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Investment banks underwrite stock and bond issues and advice on mergers. Examples of investment banks are Goldman Sachs of the USA or Nomura Securities of Japan.

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Merchant banks were traditionally banks which engaged in trade financing. The modern definition, however, refers to banks which provide capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans. Unlike Venture capital firms, they tend not to invest in new companies.

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Private Banks manage the assets of the very rich. An example of a private bank is the Union Bank of Switzerland.

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Savings banks write mortgages exclusively.

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Offshore banks are banks located in jurisdictions with low taxation and regulation, such as Switzerland or the Channel Islands. Many offshore banks are essentially private banks.

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Commercial banks primarily lend to businesses (corporate banking)

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Retail banks primarily lend to individuals. An example of a retail bank is Washington Mutual of the USA.

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Universal banks engage in several of these activities. For example, Citigroup, a large American bank, is involved in commercial and retail lending; it owns a merchant bank (Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited) and an investment bank (Salomon Smith Barney); it operates a private bank (Citigroup Private Bank);

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking finally, its subsidiaries in tax-havens offer offshore banking services to customers in other countries.

SOME CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED WITH BANKS IN GENERAL: BANKS ARE PRONE TO CRISIS

The traditional bank has an inherent tendency to crisis. This is because the bank borrows short term and lends leveraged long term. The sum of deposits and the bank's capital will never equal more than a modest percentage of the loans the bank has outstanding.

Even if liquidity is not a concern, if there is no run on the bank, banks can simply choose a bad portfolio of loans, and lose more money than they have. The US Savings and Loan Crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s is such an incident.

ROLE IN THE MONEY SUPPLY

A bank raises funds by attracting deposits, borrowing money in the inter-bank market, or issuing financial instruments in the money market or a securities market. The bank then lends out most of these funds to borrowers.

However, it would not be prudent for a bank to lend out all of its balance sheet. It must keep a certain proportion of its funds in reserve so that it can repay depositors who withdraw their deposits. Bank reserves are typically kept in the form of a deposit with a central bank. This behavior is called fractional-reserve banking and it is a central issue of monetary policy. Some governments (or their central banks) restrict the proportion of a bank's balance sheet that can be lent out, and use this as a tool for controlling the money supply. Even where the reserve ratio is not controlled by the government, a minimum figure will still be set by regulatory authorities as part of banking supervision.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking REGULATION

The combination of the instability of banks as well as their important facilitating role in the economy led to banking being thoroughly regulated. The amount of capital a bank is required to hold is a function of the amount and quality of its assets. Major Banks are subject to the Basel Capital Accord promulgated by the Bank for International Settlements. In addition, banks are usually required to purchase deposit insurance to make sure smaller investors are not wiped out in the event of a bank failure.

Another reason banks are thoroughly regulated is that ultimately, no government can allow the banking system to fail. There is almost always a lender of last resort—in the event of a liquidity crisis (where short term obligations exceed short term assets) some element of government will step in to lend banks enough money to avoid bankruptcy.

HOW BANKS ARE VIEWED

Banks have a long history of being characterized as heartless, rapacious creditors, hounding honest folk down on their luck for the last dime.

In United States history, the National Bank was a major political issue during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson fought against the bank as a symbol of greed and profit-mongering, antithetical to the democratic ideals of the United States.

PROFITABILITY

Large banks in the United States are some of the most profitable corporations, especially relative to the small market shares they have. This amount is even higher if one counts the credit divisions of companies like Ford, which are responsible for a large proportion of those company's profits. For example, the largest bank, Citigroup, which for the past 3 years has made more profit then any other company in the world, has only a 5 percent

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking market share. Now if Citigroup were to be as dominant in its industry as a Home Depot, Starbucks, or Wal Mart in their respective industries, with a 30 percent market share, it would make more money than the top ten non-banking US industries combined.

In the past 10 years in the United States, banks have taken many measures to ensure that they remain profitable while responding to ever-changing market conditions. First, this includes the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which allows banks again to merge with investment and insurance houses. Merging banking, investment, and insurance functions allows traditional banks to respond to increasing consumer demands for "one stop shopping" by enabling the crossing selling of products (which, the banks hope, will also increase profitability). Second, they have moved toward risk based pricing on loans, which mean charging higher interest rates for those people who they deem more risky to default on loans. This dramatically helps to offset the losses from bad loans, lowers the price of loans to those who have better credit histories, and extends credit products to high risk customers who would have been denied credit under the previous system. Third, they have sought to increase the methods of payment processing available to the general public and business clients. These products include debit cards, pre-paid cards, smartcards, and credit cards. These products make it easier for consumers to conveniently make transactions and smooth their consumption over time (in some countries with under-developed financial systems, it is still common to deal strictly in cash, including carrying suitcases filled with cash to purchase a home). However, with convenience there is also increased risk that consumers will mis-manage their financial resources and accumulate excessive debt. Banks make money from card products through interest payments and fees charged to consumers and companies that accept the cards. The banks' main obstacles to increasing profits are existing regulatory burdens, new government regulation, and increasing competition from non-traditional financial institutions.

TOP TEN BANKS IN THE WORLD RANKED BY PROFIT IN 2003 1. Citigroup — 20 billion 2. Bank of America — 15 billion

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking 3. HSBC — 10 billion 4. Royal Bank of Scotland — 8 billion 5. Wells Fargo — 7 billion 6. JP Morgan Chase — 7 billion 7. UBS AG — 6 billion 8. Wachovia — 5 billion 9. Morgan Stanley — 5 billion 10. Merrill Lynch — 4 billion

INDIAN BANKING SECTOR Banking in India has its origin as early as the Vedic period. It is believed that the transition from money lending to banking must have occurred even before Manu, the great Hindu Jurist, who has devoted a section of his work to deposits and advances and laid down rules relating to rates of interest. During the Mogul period, the indigenous bankers played a very important role in lending money and financing foreign trade and commerce. During the days of the East India Company, it was the turn of the agency houses to carry on the banking business. The General Bank of India was the first Joint Stock Bank to be established in the year 1786. The others which followed were the Bank of Hindustan and the Bengal Bank. The Bank of Hindustan is reported to have continued till 1906 while the other two failed in the meantime. In the first half of the 19th century the East India Company established three banks; the Bank of Bengal in 1809, the Bank of Bombay in 1840 and the Bank of Madras in 1843. These three banks also known as Presidency Banks, were independent units and functioned well. These three banks were amalgamated in 1920 and a new bank, the Imperial Bank of India was established on 27th January 1921. With the passing of the State Bank of India Act in 1955 the undertaking of the Imperial Bank of India was taken over by the newly constituted State Bank of India. The Reserve Bank which is the Central Bank was created in 1935 by passing Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. In the wake of the Swadeshi Movement, a

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking number of banks with Indian management were established in the country namely, Punjab National Bank Ltd, Bank of India Ltd, Canara Bank Ltd, Indian Bank Ltd, the Bank of Baroda Ltd, the Central Bank of India Ltd. On July 19, 1969, 14 major banks of the country were nationalized and in 15th April 1980 six more commercial private sector banks were also taken over by the government.

Today the commercial banking system in India may be distinguished into: Public Sector Banks a. State Bank of India and its associate banks called the State Bank group b. 20 nationalized banks c. Regional Rural Banks mainly sponsored by Public Sector Banks

Private Sector Banks a. Old generation private banks b. New generation private banks c. Foreign banks in India d. Scheduled Co-operative Banks e. Non-scheduled Banks Co-Operative Sector The co-operative banking sector has been developed in the country to the suppliment the

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking village money lender. The co-operative banking sector in India is divided into 4 components: 1. State Co-operative Banks 2. Central Co-operative Banks 3. Primary Agriculture Credit Societies 4. Land Development Banks 5. Urban Co-operative Banks 6. Primary Agricultural Development Banks 7. Primary Land Development Banks 8. State Land Development Banks

Development Banks 1. Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) 2. Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) 3. Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) 4. Industrial Investment Bank of India (IIBI) 5. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) 6. SCICI Ltd. 7. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) 8. Export Import Bank of India 9. National Housing Bank


STATUS OF INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY It is useful to note some telling facts about the status of the Indian banking industry juxtaposed with other countries, recognizing the differences between the developed and the emerging economies. First, the structure of the industry: In the world’s top 1000 banks, there are many more large and medium-sized domestic banks from the developed countries than from the emerging economies. Illustratively, according to The Banker 2004, out of the top 1000 banks globally, over 200 are located in USA, just above 100 in Japan, over 80 in Germany, over 40 in Spain and around 40 in the UK. Even China has as many as 16 banks within the top 1000, out of which, as many as 14 are in the top 500. India, on the other hand, had 20 banks within the top 1000 out of which only 6 were within the top 500 banks. This is perhaps reflective of differences in size of economies and of the financial sectors. Second, the share of bank assets in the aggregate financial sector assets: In most emerging markets, banking sector assets comprise well over 80 per cent of total financial sector assets, whereas these figures are much lower in the developed economies. Furthermore, deposits as a share of total bank liabilities have declined since 1990 in

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking many developed countries, while in developing countries public deposits continue to be dominant in banks. In India, the share of banking assets in total financial sector assets is around 75 per cent, as of end-March 2004. There is, no doubt, merit in recognizing the importance of diversification in the institutional and instrument-specific aspects of financial intermediation in the interests of wider choice, competition and stability. However, the dominant role of banks in financial intermediation in emerging economies and particularly in India will continue in the medium-term; and the banks will continue to be “special” for a long time. In this regard, it is useful to emphasize the dominance of banks in the developing countries in promoting non-bank financial intermediaries and services including in development of debt-markets. Even where role of banks is apparently diminishing in emerging markets, substantively, they continue to play a leading role in non-banking financing activities, including the development of financial markets. Third, internationalization of banking operations : The foreign controlled banking assets, as a proportion of total domestic banking assets, increased significantly in several European countries (Austria, Ireland, Spain, Germany and Nordic countries), but increases have been fairly small in some others (UK and Switzerland). Amongst the emerging economies, while there was marked increase of foreign-controlled ownership in several Latin American economies, the increase has, at best, been modest in the Asian economies. Available evidence seems to indicate some correlation between the extent of liberalization of capital account in the emerging markets and the share of assets controlled by foreign banks. As per the evidence available, the foreign banks in India, which are present in the form of branches, seem to enjoy greater freedom in their operations, including retail banking, in the country on par with domestic banks, as compared with most of the other developing countries. Furthermore, the profitability of their operations in India is considerably higher than that of the domestically-owned banks and, in fact, is higher than the foreign banks’ operations in most other developing countries. India continues to grant branch licenses more liberally than the commitments made to the WTO.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Fourth, the share of state-owned banks in total banking sector assets: Emerging economies, with predominantly Government-owned banks, tend to have much higher state-ownership of banks compared to their developed counterparts. While many emerging countries chose to privatize their public sector banking industry after a process of absorption of the overhang problems by the Government, we have encouraged staterun banks to diversify ownership by inducting private share capital through public offerings rather than by strategic sales and still absorb the overhang problems. The process has helped reduce the burden on the Government, enhance transparency, encourage market discipline and improve efficiency as reflected in stock market valuation, promote efficient new private sector banks, while drastically reducing the share of the wholly government owned public sector banks in a rapidly growing industry. Our successful reform of public sector banks is a good example of a dynamic mix of public and private ownership in banks. A noteworthy feature of banking reforms in India is the growth of newly licensed private sector banks, some of which have attained globally best standards in terms of technology, services and sophistication. In many respects related to performance, these domestically promoted banks have surpassed branches of foreign banks in India, and could be a role model for other banks.

BANKING SYSTEM Introduction The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India's central bank. Though the banking industry is currently dominated by public sector banks, numerous private and foreign banks exist. India's government-owned banks dominate the market. Their performance has been mixed, with a few being consistently profitable. Several public sector banks are being restructured, and in some the government either already has or will reduce its ownership. Private and foreign banks

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking The RBI has granted operating approval to a few privately owned domestic banks; of these many commenced banking business. Foreign banks operate more than 150 branches in India. The entry of foreign banks is based on reciprocity, economic and political bilateral relations. An inter-departmental committee approves applications for entry and expansion. Capital adequacy norm Foreign banks were required to achieve an 8 percent capital adequacy norm by March 1993, while Indian banks with overseas branches had until March 1995 to meet that target. All other banks had to do so by March 1996. The banking sector is to be used as a model for opening up of India's insurance sector to private domestic and foreign participants, while keeping the national insurance companies in operation. Banking India has an extensive banking network, in both urban and rural areas. All large Indian banks are nationalized, and all Indian financial institutions are in the public sector. RBI banking The Reserve Bank of India is the central banking institution. It is the sole authority for issuing bank notes and the supervisory body for banking operations in India. It supervises and administers exchange control and banking regulations, and administers the government's monetary policy. It is also responsible for granting licenses for new bank branches. 25 foreign banks operate in India with full banking licenses. Several licenses for private banks have been approved. Despite fairly broad banking coverage nationwide, the financial system remains inaccessible to the poorest people in India. Indian banking system The banking system has three tiers. These are the scheduled commercial banks; the regional rural banks which operate in rural areas not covered by the scheduled banks; and the cooperative and special purpose rural banks.


Scheduled and non scheduled banks There are approximately 80 scheduled commercial banks, Indian and foreign; almost 200 regional rural banks; more than 350 central cooperative banks, 20 land development banks; and a number of primary agricultural credit societies. In terms of business, the public sector banks, namely the State Bank of India and the nationalized banks, dominate the banking sector. Local financing All sources of local financing are available to foreign-participation companies incorporated in India, regardless of the extent of foreign participation. Under foreign exchange regulations, foreigners and non-residents, including foreign companies, require the permission of the Reserve Bank of India to borrow from a person or company resident in India. Regulations on foreign banks Foreign banks in India are subject to the same regulations as scheduled banks. They are permitted to accept deposits and provide credit in accordance with the banking laws and RBI regulations. Currently about 25 foreign banks are licensed to operate in India. Foreign bank branches in India finance trade through their global networks. RBI restrictions The Reserve Bank of India lays down restrictions on bank lending and other activities with large companies. These restrictions, popularly known as "consortium guidelines" seem to have outlived their usefulness, because they hinder the availability of credit to the non-food sector and at the same time do not foster competition between banks. Indian vs. foreign banks Most Indian banks are well behind foreign banks in the areas of customer funds transfer and clearing systems. They are hugely over-staffed and are unlikely to be able to compete with the new private banks that are now entering the market. While these new banks and

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking foreign banks still face restrictions in their activities, they are well-capitalized, use modern equipment and attract high-caliber employees. Government and RBI regulations All commercial banks face stiff restrictions on the use of both their assets and liabilities. Forty percent of loans must be directed to "priority sectors" and the high liquidity ratio and cash reserve requirements severely limit the availability of deposits for lending. The RBI requires that domestic Indian banks make 40 percent of their loans at confessional rates to priority sectors' selected by the government. These sectors consist largely of agriculture, exporters, and small businesses. Since July 1993, foreign banks have been required to make 32 percent of their loans to these priority sector. Within the target of 32 percent, two sub-targets for loans to the small scale sector (minimum of 10 percent) and exports (minimum of 12 percent) have been fixed. Foreign banks, however, are not required to open branches in rural areas, or to make loans to the agricultural sector. Commercial banks lent $ 8 billion in the Indian financial year (IFY, April-March) 1997/98, up sharply from $ 4.4 billion in the previous year.

The deployment of gross loans was as follows: 1997-98 (April-January) percent Gross Bank Loans 100 Food Procurement 15.5 Priority Sector 31.6 Industrial Loans 29.4 Loans to Trade 0.07 Other Loans 23.43 Source: Government of India Economic Survey Need to Ponder Debates on India's slowdown focus on the manufacturing sector which is dangerously misleading: one of the biggest areas of worry about India's economic slowdown is being

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking ignored - the systemic flaw of India's banking sector. Stories about the real health of Indian banks get less publicised because banks are still overwhelmingly owned, controlled and directed by the government, i.e., the ministry of finance (MoF). Banks have no effective mouthpiece either. Grey future One more reason being the opacity of the Reserve Bank of India. This does not mean a forecast of doom for the Indian banking sector the kind that has washed out south east Asia. And also not because Indian banks are healthy. We still have no clue about the real non-performing assets of financial institutions and banks. Many banks are now listed. That puts additional responsibility of sharing information. It is now clear that it was the financial sector that caused the sensational meltdown of some Asian nations. India is not Thailand, Indonesia and Korea. Borrowed investment in property in India is low and property prices have already fallen, letting out steam gently. Our micro-meltdown has already been happening. Conclusion Still, there are several other worries about the banking sector, mainly confusion over ownership and control. Sometime soon India will be forced to apply the norms of developed countries and many banks (including some of the biggest) will show very poor return ratios and dozens of banks will be bankrupt. When that happens the two popular reasons to defend bad banks will disappear. These are: one, to save face in the remote hope of that fortunes will `revive' and two, some banks are too big to be allowed to fail, fearing social upheaval.


CHALLENGES THE INDIAN BANKS FACE India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Evidence from across the world suggests that a sound and evolved banking system is required for sustained economic development. India has a better banking system in place vis a vis other developing countries, but there are several issues that need to be ironed out. The challenges that the banking sector in India faces areINTEREST RATE RISK: Interest rate risk can be defined as exposure of bank's net interest income to adverse movements in interest rates. A bank's balance sheet consists mainly of rupee assets and liabilities. Any movement in domestic interest rate is the main source of interest rate risk. Over the last few years the treasury departments of banks have been responsible for a substantial part of profits made by banks. Between July 1997 and Oct 2003, as interest rates fell, the yield on 10-year government bonds (a barometer for domestic interest rates) fell, from 13 per cent to 4.9 per cent. With yields falling the banks made huge profits on their bond portfolios.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Now as yields go up (with the rise in inflation, bond yields go up and bond prices fall as the debt market starts factoring a possible interest rate hike), the banks will have to set aside funds to mark to market their investment. This will make it difficult to show huge profits from treasury operations. This concern becomes much stronger because a substantial percentage of bank deposits remain invested in government bonds. Banking in the recent years had been reduced to a trading operation in government securities. Recent months have shown a rise in the bond yields has led to the profit from treasury operations falling. The latest quarterly reports of banks clearly show several banks making losses on their treasury operations. If the rise in yields continues the banks might end up posting huge losses on their trading books. Given these facts, banks will have to look at alternative sources of investment.

INTEREST RATES AND NON-PERFORMING ASSETS: The best indicator of the health of the banking industry in a country is its level of NPAs. Given this fact, Indian banks seem to be better placed than they were in the past. A few banks have even managed to reduce their net NPAs to less than one percent (before the merger of Global Trust Bank into Oriental Bank of Commerce, OBC was a zero NPA bank). But as the bond yields start to rise the chances are the net NPAs will also start to go up. This will happen because the banks have been making huge provisions against the money they made on their bond portfolios in a scenario where bond yields were falling. Reduced NPAs generally gives the impression that banks have strengthened their credit appraisal processes over the years. This does not seem to be the case. With increasing bond yields, treasury income will come down and if the banks wish to make large provisions, the money will have to come from their interest income, and this in turn, shall bring down the profitability of banks. COMPETITION IN RETAIL BANKING: The entry of new generation private sector banks has changed the entire scenario. Earlier the household savings went into banks and the banks then lent out money to corporates.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Now they need to sell banking. The retail segment, which was earlier ignored, is now the most important of the lot, with the banks jumping over one another to give out loans. The consumer has never been so lucky with so many banks offering so many products to choose from. With supply far exceeding demand it has been a race to the bottom, with the banks undercutting one another. A lot of foreign banks have already burnt their fingers in the retail game and have now decided to get out of a few retail segments completely. The nimble footed new generation private sector banks have taken a lead on this front and the public sector banks are trying to play catch up. The PSBs have been losing business to the private sector banks in this segment. PSBs need to figure out the means to generate profitable business from this segment in the days to come.

THE URGE TO MERGE: In the recent past there has been a lot of talk about Indian Banks lacking in scale and size. The State Bank of India is the only bank from India to make it to the list of Top 100 banks, globally. Most of the PSBs are either looking to pick up a smaller bank or waiting to be picked up by a larger bank. The central government also seems to be game about the issue and is seen to be encouraging PSBs to merge or acquire other banks. Global evidence seems to suggest that even though there is great enthusiasm when companies merge or get acquired, majority of the mergers/acquisitions do not really work. So in the zeal to merge with or acquire another bank the PSBs should not let their common sense take a back seat. Before a merger is carried out cultural issues should be looked into. A bank based primarily out of North India might want to acquire a bank based primarily out of South India to increase its geographical presence but their cultures might be very different. So the integration process might become very difficult. Technological compatibility is another issue that needs to be looked into in details before any merger or acquisition is carried out.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking The banks must not just merge because everybody around them is merging. As Keynes wrote,”Worldly wisdom teaches us that it's better for reputation to fail conventionally than succeed unconventionally". Banks should avoid falling into this trap. IMPACT OF BASEL-II NORMS: Banking is a commodity business. The margins on the products that banks offer to its customers are extremely thin vis a vis other businesses. As a result, for banks to earn an adequate return of equity and compete for capital along with other industries, they need to be highly leveraged. The primary function of the bank's capital is to absorb any losses a bank suffers (which can be written off against bank's capital). Norms set in the Swiss town of Basel determine the ground rules for the way banks around the world account for loans they give out. These rules were formulated by the Bank for International Settlements in 1988. Essentially, these rules tell the banks how much capital the banks should have to cover up for the risk that their loans might go bad. The rules set in 1988 led the banks to differentiate among the customers it lent out money to. Different weight age was given to various forms of assets, with zero percentage weightings being given to cash, deposits with the central bank/govt etc, and 100 per cent weighting to claims on private sector, fixed assets, real estate etc. The summation of these assets gave us the risk-weighted assets. Against these risk weighted assets the banks had to maintain a (Tier I + Tier II) capital of 9 per cent i.e. every Rs100 of risk assets had to be backed by Rs 9 of Tier I + Tier II capital. To put it simply the banks had to maintain a capital adequacy ratio of 9 per cent. The problem with these rules is that they do not distinguish within a category i.e. all lending to private sector is assigned a 100 per cent risk weighting, be it a company with the best credit rating or company which is in the doldrums and has a very low credit rating. This is not an efficient use of capital. The company with the best credit rating is more likely to repay the loan Vis a Vis the company with a low credit rating. So the bank should be setting aside a far lesser amount of capital against the risk of a company with the best credit rating defaulting Vis a Vis the company with a low credit rating. With the

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking BASEL-II norms the bank can decide on the amount of capital to set aside depending on the credit rating of the company.

Credit risk is not the only type of risk that banks face. These days the operational risks that banks face are huge. The various risks that come under operational risk are competition risk, technology risk, casualty risk, crime risk etc. The original BASEL rules did not take into account the operational risks. As per the BASEL-II norms, banks will have to set aside 15 per cent of net income to protect themselves against operational risks.

So to be ready for the new BASEL rules the banks will have to set aside more capital because the new rules could lead to capital adequacy ratios of the banks falling. How the banks plan to go about meeting these requirements is something that remains to be seen. A few banks are planning initial public offerings to have enough capital on their books to meet these new norms. IN CLOSING: Over the last few years, the falling interest rates, gave banks very little incentive to lend to projects, as the return did not compensate them for the risk involved. This led to the banks getting into the retail segment big time. It also led to a lot of banks playing it safe and putting in most of the deposits they collected into government bonds. Now with the bond party over and the bond yields starting to go up, the banks will have to concentrate on their core function of lending. The banking sector in India needs to tackle these challenges successfully to keep growing and strengthen the Indian financial system.

Furthermore, the interference of the central government with the functioning of PSBs should stop. A fresh autonomy package for public sector banks is in offing. The package seeks to provide a high degree of freedom to PSBs on operational matters. This seems to be the right way to go for PSBs.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking The growth of the banking sector will be one of the most important inputs that shall go into making sure that India progresses and becomes a global economic super power.

CHALLENGES AHEAD Following highlights some thoughts on certain areas which have a key bearing on the ability of Indian banks to remain competitive and enhance soundness. Needless to state, these are more in the nature of random thoughts, rather than any structured thinking, and are meant to invite discussion. First, cost management. Cost containment is a key to sustainability of bank profits as well as their long-term viability. To highlight this point, we take recourse to some figures. In 2003, operating costs of banks as a proportion of total average assets1[1] in the UK were 2.12 per cent, for those in Switzerland they were 2.03 per cent, and less than 2 per cent in major European economies like Sweden, Austria, Germany and France. In India, however, in 2003, operating costs as proportion of total assets of scheduled commercial banks stood at 2.24 per cent. The tasks ahead are thus clear and within reach. Second, recovery management. This is a key to the stability of the banking sector. There should be no hesitation in stating that Indian banks have done a remarkable job in containment of non-performing loans (NPL) considering the overhang issues and 1

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking overall difficult environment. Let me add that for 2004, the net NPL ratio for the Indian scheduled commercial banks at 2.9 per cent is ample testimony to the impressive efforts being made by our banking system. In fact, recovery management is also linked to the banks’ interest margins. We must recognize that cost and recovery management supported by enabling legal framework hold the key to future health and competitiveness of the Indian banks. No doubt, improving recovery-management in India is an area requiring expeditious and effective actions in legal, institutional and judicial processes.

Third, technological intensity of banking: This is one area where perhaps India needs to do significant ‘catching up’, notwithstanding the rapid strides made over the last. Some available figures indicate that in late 1999, the percentage of customers using online banking was less than 1 per cent in India, compared with anywhere between 6-30 per cent in developed economies like US, UK, Germany, Finland and Sweden. Even in Latin America, these figures are much higher than for India. While admittedly the numbers for India are likely to be much higher at present than these figures suggest, so would be the case for these other economies as well. The issue, therefore, remains what has been the extent of ‘catching up’ by India on this score? In fact, this seems somewhat intriguing: India happens to be a world leader in information technology, but its usage by our banking system is somewhat muted. It is wise for Indian banks to exploit this globally state-of-art expertise, domestically available, to their fullest advantage. Fourth, risk management. Banking in modern economies is all about risk management. The successful negotiation and implementation of Basel II Accord is likely to lead to an even sharper focus on the risk measurement and risk management at the institutional level. Thankfully, the Basel Committee has, through its various publications, provided useful guidelines on managing the various facets of risk. The institution of

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking sound risk management practices would be an important pillar for staying ahead of the competition. Banks can, on their part, formulate ‘early warning indicators’ suited to their own requirements, business profile and risk appetite in order to better monitor and manage risks. Fifth, governance. The recent irregularities involving accounting firms in the US have amply demonstrated the importance of good corporate governance practices. The quality of corporate governance in the banks becomes critical as competition intensifies, banks strive to retain their client base, and regulators move out of controls and microregulation. As already mentioned, banks are special in emerging markets since they take a leading role in development of other financial intermediaries and of financial markets, apart from having a large recourse to public deposits. No doubt, there is nothing like an ‘optimal’ level of governance for one to be satisfied with. The objective should be to continuously strive for excellence. The RBI has, on its part, made significant efforts to improve governance practices in banks, drawing upon international best practices. It is heartening to note that corporate governance presently finds explicit mention in the annual reports of several banks. The improved corporate governance practice would also provide an opportunity to accord greater freedom to the banks’ boards and move away from micro regulation to macro management.

Banks in India are custodians of

depositors’ monies, monies of the millions of depositors who are seeking safe avenues for their hard earned savings, and hence, banks must accept and perform an effective fiduciary role. In this light, improvement in policy-framework, regulatory regime, market-perceptions, and indeed, popular sentiments relating to governance in banks need to be on the top of the agenda – to serve our society’s needs and realities while being in harmony with the global perspective.


RETAIL BANKING Retail banking is typical mass-market banking where individual customers use local branches of larger commercial banks. Services offered include: savings and checking accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards, credit cards, and so forth. This is very different from wholesale banking. RETAIL BANKING IN INDIA: India is poised to become the world's fourth largest economy in the span of two decades. Economic prosperity is providing many in this populous nation with real purchasing power; it simply is an opportunity that cannot be overlooked by global banks. Despite its appeal, India remains a developing economy. Thus, global banks seeking a presence or expansion in India must craft a business strategy that considers the country's attendant challenges: long-established competitors; rudimentary infrastructure; dynamic political environment; restrictive regulations; and developing country operational risks. These challenges should be weighed against the potential gains from entering the marketplace, as well as the likely cost of doing nothing. Extensive research conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value pinpointed four of the most promising product areas for global banks entering the Indian market: housing loans, automobile loans, small and

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking medium enterprise (SME) banking and personal financial services. However, recognizing the growth opportunities is only the beginning. Global banks targeting India as a source of new growth will have to do much more than just "show up" - success will lie in the details of execution.

With one of the most under penetrated retail lending markets in Asia-Pacific, India offers great potential. India's mortgage debt in 2002 totaled only 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 7 percent of Thailand's GDP, 8 percent of GDP in China and much higher proportions in other parts of the region: Malaysia (28 percent), South Korea (30 percent) and Hong Kong (52 percent). While India remains characterized by extreme wealth and poverty, a middle class is beginning to emerge, with absolute demand for products and services on the rise. To seize this opportunity, new market entrants must exploit specific market niches and leverage best-in-class capabilities while addressing the unique challenges of the Indian banking environment. During the last decade, India has emerged as one of the biggest and fastest growing economies in the world. The strengthening economy in India has been fueled by the convergence of several key influences: liberalization policies of the government, growth of key economic sectors, development of an English-speaking, well-educated work force and the emergence of a middle class population. More liberal economic policies: Opening the marketplace India's debt crisis in the early 1990s forced the government to radically reform its economic policies. The resulting liberalization program opened the market for foreign investment, fostered domestic competition and spawned an era of privatization. In the 10 years after 1992, India's economy grew at an average rate of 6.8 percent . During April to June 2004, the economy continued to show its strength and grew by 7.4 percent. Foreign direct investment (FDI) grew more than twenty-fold, from just under US$0.13 billion in 1992 to almost US$2.86 billion in 2003. Meanwhile, privatization accelerated between 2000 and 2002, when 13 state-owned companies were sold, while the Indian government recently raised another US$3.41 billion by selling off stakes in six state-

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking owned firms. Since foreign investment and access to external markets remain critical to the growth of the country - and specifically, it’s banking system - reform-minded institutional and foreign investors are monitoring the early words and actions of the new administration that took control in May 2004, uncertain whether its predecessor's liberalization program will continue.

Booming businesses: Services, agriculture and manufacturing Domestic industries have prospered from the development of India's capital markets and the increased foreign trade and investment across sectors. The rapidly expanding services sector (including telecommunications and information technology), has benefited from government spending and explosive demand for IT and IT-enabled services (ITES), such as call centers and back-office administration. Agriculture and core industries (such as steel, cement and automobiles) are expected to remain strong over time because of affordable consumer credit and the robust economy. In addition, infrastructure spending is expected to be very strong - fueled by big-ticket projects involving national highway systems, establishment of privatized airports, and the modernization of ports and telecommunication networks. An estimated US$440 billion is expected to be spent in public and private projects over the next five years. A growing labor force: English-speaking with IT savvy Global investors are attracted to India because of the growing number of well-educated, English-speaking workers who are comfortable working in information technology. India's IT work force will be augmented by a booming population of engineering students. The number of engineering students admitted at the university level rose in 2004 to 341,649 from 310,590 in 2003. Furthermore, India's labor pool also serves as an expanding customer base for retail bank products and services.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking The emerging middle class: Managing "new money" The development of India's economy is boosting overall consumer purchasing power. The percentage of middle to high income Indian households is expected to continue rising. The younger, more educated population not only wields increasing purchasing power, but it is more comfortable than previous generations with acquiring personal debt

A view of India's banking industry India's banking industry is one of the major beneficiaries of the country's ascendant economic power. Improving consumer purchasing power, coupled with more liberal attitudes toward personal debt, is fueling India's explosive banking segment. Global banks should be encouraged further by the relatively under penetrated status of the country's various retail lending segments. The retail market for mortgages, credit cards, automobile loans and other consumer loans is expected to jump from its 1999 total of US$9.7 billion to US$36.7 billion in 2004 (see Figure 3). Even with this strong performance, significant opportunities for continued retail lending growth remain as retail lending figures lag India's regional peers. Unlike most rapidly-expanding, emerging markets, India's banking sector has exhibited financial stability and a trend toward improved governance under the management of its central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). One challenge the RBI had to contend with was the legacy of policy-directed, corporate lending by the state-owned banks that had produced high levels of non-performing assets (NPAs). Through structural reform, remedial legislative actions, and favorable returns from the fixed income Treasury Markets, Indian banks have cut gross NPA levels from 15.7 percent in 1997 to 8.8 percent in 2003. Fortunately, new entrants to the market are not subjected to the same mandatory lending requirements as domestic banks and can therefore "cherry-pick" the most desirable clients, allowing them to lower their own risk of NPAs through more rigorous risk management strategies.


Global banks in India: Gaining a foothold The competitive environment in India presents both challenges and opportunities to global banks seeking market entry. Entrenched domestic competitors and restrictive equity ownership ceilings imposed by the government create obstacles for banks establishing a foothold in India. Primary challenges include tough competition and government ceilings on foreign equity ownership. Opportunities exist because global banks often have technological advantages, well-honed, efficient processes and appealing products and services. For the most part, global banks must execute on an organic growth strategy to expand their footprint in India. Merger and acquisition activity in the banking sector remains limited by government regulation. This is difficult news for global banks that have relied on acquisitions as a market entry or expansion strategy. Unless the government shifts its posture on foreign equity ownership, global banks will have to rely on organic growth to expand their presence in India. Crafting an India-specific retail banking strategy As global banks have experienced in the past, successfully competing in India requires substantially more consideration than merely choosing the right market to target. It warrants a well-crafted strategy that addresses the numerous risks and challenges specific to India's developing economy. The confluence of rapid economic development, elevated consumer purchasing power levels and an underserved retail banking population position India as a potential growth region for the 21st Century. However, India's banking history has also seen global banks failing to establish a profitable operation in the country. Success will truly lie in the details of execution.


REASONS FOR THE CHANGE OVER FROM CORPORATE BANKING TO RETAIL BANKING: •

The financial sector reforms undertaken by the Government since the year 1991 have accelerated the process of disintermediation which has encouraged blue chip corporate to access cheaper funds to meet their working capital requirements directly from investors in India and abroad through capital market instruments and external Commercial Borrowings route thus by-passing Banks in the process. The deregulation of markets and interest rates has lead to cut throat competition among Banks for corporate loans making them to lend even at PLR or sub PLR and offer other valued services at comparatively cheaper rates to big and high value corporates. In the process, most of the banks have experienced substantial reduction in interest spreads and drain on their profitability.

•

The introduction of stringent Asset Classification, Income Recognition and provisioning norms has resulted in growing menace of NPAs in corporate loans which has affected the asset quality, profitability and capital adequacy of banks adversely. The risks involved in corporate loans are very high as corporates have to keep all their eggs in one basket. The risks involved in retail Banking advances are comparatively less and well diversified as loan amounts are relatively small ranging from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 100 lac and repayable normally in short period of 3-

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking 5 years except housing loans (where repayment period is long up to 15 years in some cases) and from fixed source of income like salaries. •

Whereas corporate loans give average return of just 0.5 to 1.5 percent only, the retail advances offer attractive interest spread of 3to 4 percent, because retail borrowers are less interest rate sensitive than the Corporates. Another reason for large interest spreads on retail advances is that the retail customers are too fragmented to bargain effectively.

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While corporate loans are subject to ups and downs in trade frequently, retail loans are comparatively independent of recession and continue to deliver even during the sluggish phase of economy.

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Retail Banking gives a lot of stability and public image to banks as compared to corporate banking.

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The housing loans, which form the major chunk of retail lending and where NPAs are the least, carry risk weight of just 50% for capital adequacy purposes. This is likely to come down further as new Basel Capital Accord or (Basel II) norms are put in place from the year 2006. This offers added incentive to banks for lending to this retail segment as against corporate lending where capital consumption is higher.

•

The greater amount of consumerism in the country with upswing in income levels of burgeoning middle class, which has propensity to consume to raise their standard of living, is enlarging the retail markets. This market is growing 2 50 percent per year and boosting the demand for credit from households. The potential is huge as present penetration level is just over 2 percent in the country. Given the easy liquidity scenario in the country the growth rate in this sector is likely to go up manifold in the years come. This offers great potential for banks to enlarge their loan books.

•

The Indian mindset is also changing and consumers prefer to improve their quality of life even if it means borrowing for facilities like housing, consumer goods vehicles and vacationing etc. Borrowing and lending is no longer considered a taboo. The peer pressure and demonstration effect is further pushing up demand for housing loans, consumer products and automobiles. The profiles of

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking customers are fast changing from conservative dodos to fashionable peacocks. All these developments give big push to Retail Banking activities. •

Retail Banking clients are generally loyal and tend not to change from one Bank to another very often.

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Large numbers of Retail clients facilitate marketing, mass selling and ability to categorize/select clients using scoring system and data mining. Banks can cut costs and achieve economies of scale and improve their bottom-line by robust growth in retail business volume.

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Through product innovations and competitive pricing strategies Banks can foster business relationship with customers to retain the existing clients and attract new ones.

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Innovative products like asset securitization can open new vistas in sustaining optimal capital adequacy and asset liability management for banks.

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Retail Banking offers opportunities to banks to cross sell other retail products like credit card, insurance, mutual fund products and demat facilities etc. to depositors and investors.


RETAIL BANKING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Contrary to plain vanilla mass Banking products that the Banks offered in the pre reform era, which the customer had either to take or leave, banks, since last couple of years are offering well researched, tech savvy, borrower friendly, attractive, value added, make your own Sunday type customized products at most competitive rates through a host of most modern delivery channels viz., ATM, internet, telebanking to enhance the comfort of diverse type of customers. Wide range of products that the bank snow offer, cover both the deposits and advances. The core banking products of deposits i.e. Saving bank, recurring deposits and short term deposits and advances i.e. short or medium term loans are packaged with several value additions in different permutations and combinations and attractive brand names. They are released in the market with adequate publicity and ad., support banks products cater to various segments of customers like salaried persons, traders, business men, professionals, technocrats, pensioners, housewives, children, labourers, artisans and craftsmen etc. Banks keep on constantly reviewing their products and services portfolio to cater to the ever escalating expectations of customers. Retail Lending products Major retail lending products offered by banks are the following: -

Housing loans

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Loan for consumer goods

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Personal loans for marriage, honeymoon, medical treatment and holidaying etc.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking -

Education loans

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Auto loans

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Gold loans

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Event loans

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Festival loans

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Insurance products

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Loan against rent receivables

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Loan against pension receivables to senior citizens

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Debit and credit cards

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Global and international cards

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Loan to doctors to set up their own clinics or for purchase of medical equipments

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Loan for women empowerment

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Loan for purchase of acoustic enclosures for diesel Gen. sets etc.

Retail banking products for depositors: This is in various segments of customers like ; children, salaried persons, senior citizens, professionals, technocrats, businessmen, retail traders and farmers etc. and it includes: -

Flexi Deposit Accounts

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Savings Bank Accounts

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Recurring Bank Accounts

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Short Term deposits

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Deferred Pension Linked Deposit Schemes

Today pure deposit type products are giving way to multi- benefit, multi access generes of banking products. Most of the innovation is taking place in savings bank accounts to make the meager return of 3.55p.a. that they earn more attractive. Most of the banks now offer sweep in and sweep out accounts, called 2-in-1 accounts or value added savings bank accounts. This account is a combination of savings bank and term deposit accounts and offers twin benefit of liquidity of a savings bank account and higher interest earning of term deposit accounts.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Add-ons and Freebies To make their products an services more attractive so as to woo maximum number of customers, the banks are vying with each other with whole lot off frills, goodies, freebies, and add-ons. A few of these add-ons. A few of these add-ons and freebies are as under: -

Free collection of specified number of outstation instruments.

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Instant credit of outstanding cheques upto Rs. 15000/-

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Concession in exchange on demand drafts and pay-orders and commission on bills of exchange

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Issuance of free personalized cheque books

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Free accident insurance covers

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Free doorsteps opening of accounts

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Free issuance of ATM, Debit, Credit and Add-on Cards

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Free investment advisory services

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Grant of redeemable reward points on use of credit cards

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Free internet banking, phone banking and anywhere banking facilities

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Issuance of discount coupons for purchase of various products like computer accessories, music CDs, cassettes, books, toys, garments etc.

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Issuance of free PVR, trade fair tickets etc.

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Concession in rate of interest on Group advances

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Exemption in upfront fees.

These concessions, freebies and add-ons are based on the True relationship Value (TRV) of the customers and is calculated by the return on various products and services of the banks availed by them. These concessions and freebies are usually offered for purchase of consumer goods but now they have become an integral part of Retail banking products and services also. New delivery channels for retail banking Products and Services: The advent of new delivery channels viz. ATM, Internet and Telebanking have revolutionalised the retail banking activities. These channels enable Banks to deliver Retail banking products and services in an efficient and cost effective manner. Now-a-

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking days the banks are under great pressure to attract new and retain old customers, as margins are turning wafer thin. In these circumstances reducing administrative and transaction costs has become crucial. Banks are making special offerings to customers through these channels retail banking has been immensely benefited with the revolution in IT and communication technology. The automation of the banking processes is facilitating extension of their reach and rationalization of their costs as well. They are the engine for growth of retail banking business of Banks. The networking of branches has extended the scope of banking to anywhere and anytime 24x 7 days a week banking. It has enabled customers to be the customer of a bank rather than the customers of a particular branch only. Customers can transact Retail Banking transactions at any of the networked branches without any extra cost. As a matter of fact the Retail Banking per se has taken off because of the advent of multiple banking channels. These channels have enabled banks to go on a massive customer acquisition mode since transaction volumes spread over multiple channels lessen the load on the brick and mortar bank branches.


SOME ASPECTS OF RETAIL BANKING Impact of Retail Banking: •

The major impact of retail Banking is that, the customers have become the Emperors – the fulcrum of all Banking activities, both on the asset side and the liabilities front. The hitherto sellers market has transformed into buyers market the customers have multiple of choices before them now for cherry picking products and services, which suit their lifestyles and tastes and financial requirements as well. Banks now go to their customers more often than the customers go to their banks.

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The Non-Banking finance companies which have hitherto been thriving on retail business due to high risk and high returns thereon have been dislodged from their profit munching citadel

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Retail Banking is transforming banks into one stop financial super markets.

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The share of retail loans is fast increasing in the loan books of banks.

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Banks can foster lasting business relationship with customers and retain the existing customers and attract new ones. There is a rise in their service as well.

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Banks can cut costs and achieve economies of scale and improve their revenues and profits by robust growth in retail business. Reduction in costs offers a win win situation both for banks and the customers.

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It has affected the interface of banking system through different delivery mechanism

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking •

It is not that banks are sharing the same pie of retail business, the pie itself is growing exponentially. Retail Banking has fuelled a considerable quantum of purchasing power through a slew of retail products.

•

Banks can diversify risks in their credit portfolio and contain the menace of NPAs. Retail banking allows bank to cross sell other products and services as it is far more easier to sell other products to the same customer rather than search for absolutely new ones. Cross selling is one of the best avenues for relationship

•

Banking and retention of customers. Banks can thus increase their business volume and improve their bottom-line substantially.

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Re-engineering of business with sophisticated technology based products will lead to business creation, reduction in transaction costs and enhancement in efficiency of operations.

Problems faced in Retail Banking: •

Retail Banking has all it’s attendant risks. It is highly sensitive .Banks got to move cautiously. It is easy to enter, but difficult to get out. A systematic and a calculated approach is the pre-requisite for success in the long run.

•

Retail Banking is being introduced with the concept of serving customer with better and innovative products with the latest technology and easy availability. It becomes so popular and widely acceptable that more and more customers had started to use it. Now it becomes a mass product. Customer database have tremendously increased and it becomes difficult to manage them.

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To match the customer inflows and current customers requirement as well as service standards banks have to set up more branches, distribution channels and new trained staff as well as improvement in back office operations also in very near future. This itself a time bounded problem and banks have to do it as early as possible.

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Today’s competitive market customer has more than one options for his retail banking needs. Every bank is providing more or less similar kind of products. So

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking an unsatisfied customer can easily switch over to the another competitor’s bank. So banks need to be very careful in handling the customers. They have to continually improve their service standards. •

Retail Banking is so wide accepted by the customer as well as very aggressively promoted by the bankers that if the bankers do not take adequate care in distributing and recovering advances, there are chances of increasing in NPAs in coming feature. And that would be an alarming situation.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking CORE SERVICES Payment services

Current a/c & savings a/c

FACILITATING SUPPORTING SERVICES SERVICES • Cash • Making payments at doorsteps • Foreign currency • Internet banking requirements • Travelers cheques • Telephone banking • DD/Bankers cheque • TT • EFT • •

• • •

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ATM Card Standing instruction from customers for making payments Inter branch/inter banks transfer of funds Safety vault

• • •

Current a/c Savings a/c Time deposit a/c

•

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Loan product: consumer loans, personal loans, housing loans, educational loans

• • •

• • • • •

Insurance products : life insurance Pension schemes

• • • •

Current a/c Savings a/c Time deposits Safety vaults

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Credit cards Debit cards Services to senior citizens Telephone banking Internet banking Conversion of excess balance to time deposit Delivery of time at promised time period Interest rate option: fixed/floating Flexibility in prepayment of loan Counseling on real estate markets Legal services for documentation ECS for payment of loan installments Additional insurance facility for family members Counseling on post retirement savings


BANKING PRODUCTS PORTFOLIO A. Deposits: There are many products in retail banking like F.D., Savings A/c, Current A/c, Recurring A/c, NRI A/c, Corporate Salary A/c, Free Demat A/c, Kid’s A/c, Senior Citizen Scheme, Cheque Facilities, Overdraft Facilities, Free Demand Draft Facilities, Locker Facilities, Cash Credit Facilities, etc. They are listed and explained as follows: 1. Fixed Deposit: The deposit with the bank for a period, which is specified at the time of making the deposit is known as fixed deposit. Such deposits are also known as F.D or term deposit .A F.D is repayable on the expiry of a specified period. The rate of interest and other terms and conditions on which the banks accepted F.D were regulated by the R.B.I. in section 21 and 35A of the Banking Regulation Act 1949. Each bank has prescribed their own rate of interest and has also permitted higher rates on deposits above a specified amount. R.B.I has also permitted the banks to formulate F.D. schemes specially meant for senior citizen with higher interest than normal. 2. Savings A/c: Saving bank A/c is meant for the people who wish to save a part of their current income to meet their future needs and they can also earn in interest on their savings. The rate of interest payable on by the banks on deposits maintained in savings account is prescribed by R.B.I. The bank should not poen a saving account in the name of : 1. Govt. Department. 2. Municipal Corporation 3. Panchayat Samities 4. State housing Boards 5. Water and Sewerage Boards Now a days the fixed deposit is also linked with saving account. Whenever there is excess of balance in saving a/c it will automatically transfer into Fixed deposit and if there is shortfall of funds in savings a/c , by issuing cheque the money is transferred from fixed deposit to saving a/c. Different banks give different name to this product.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking 3. Current A/c: A current A/c is an active and running account, which may be operated upon any number of times during a working day. There is no restriction on the number and the amount of withdrawals from a current account. Current account suit the requirements of a big businessmen, joint stock companies, institutions, public authorities and public corporation etc. 4. Recurring Deposit: A variant of the saving bank a/c is the recurring deposit or cumulative deposit a/c introduced by banks in recent years. Here, a depositor is required to deposit an amount chosen by him. The rate of interest on the recurring deposit account is higher than as compared to the interest on the saving a/c. Banks open such accounts for periods ranging from 1 to 10 years. TDS is not applicable to this type of deposit. The recurring deposit account can be opened by any number of persons, more than one person jointly or severally, by a guardian in the name of a minor and even by a minor. 5. NRI Account: NRI accounts are maintained by banks in rupees as well as in foreign currency. Four types of Rupee account can be open in the names of NRI. 1.Non Resident Rupee Ordinary Account (NRO) 2.Non Resident External Account (NRE) 3.Non Resident ( Non Repatriable Deposit Scheme ) ( NRNR) 4.Non Resident ( special)Rupee Account Scheme ( NRSR) Apart from this, foreign currency account is the account in foreign currency. The account can be open normally in US dollar , Pound Sterling , Euro. The accounts of NRIs are Indian millenium deposit, Resident foreign currency, housing finance scheme for NRI investment schemes. 6. Corporate Salary Account:

Corporate Salary a/c is a new product by certain private sector banks, foreign banks and recently by some public sector banks also. Under this account salary is deposited in the account of the employees by debiting the account of employer. The only thing required is the account number of the employees and the amount to be paid them as salary. In certain cases the minimum balance required is zero. All other facilities available in savings a/c is also available in corporate salary a/c.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking 7. Demat Account: Dematerialization is a process by which physical share certificates / securities are taking back by the company or registrar and destroyed ultimately. An equivalent number of shares are credited electronically to customers depository account. Just like saving/current account with a bank one can open a securities account with the depository through a depository participant (DP). 8. Kid’s Account: ( Minor Account ) Children are invited as customer by certain banks. Under this, Account is opened in the name of kids by parents or guardians. The features of kid’s account are free personalized cheque book which can be used as a gift cheque , internet banking , investment services etc. 9. Senior Citizenship Scheme : Senior citizens can open an account and on that account they can get interest rate somewhat more than the normal rate of interest. This is due to some social responsibilities of banks towards aged persons whose earning are mainly on the interest rate.

B. Loans and Advances: The main business of the banking company is lending of funds to the constituents, mainly traders, business and industrial enterprises. The major portion of a bank’s funds is employed by way of loans and advances, which is the most profitable employment of its funds. There are three main principles of bank lending that have been followed by the commercial banks and they are safety , liquidity, and profitability. Banks grant loans for different periods like short term, medium term, long term and also for different purpose.


1. Personal Loans: This is one of the major loans provided by the banks to the individuals. There the borrower can use for his/her personal purpose. This may be related to his/her business purpose. The amount of loan is depended on the income of the borrower and his/her capacity to repay the loan. 2. Housing Loans: NHB is the wholly own subsidiary of the RBI which control and regulate whole industry as per the guidance and information , home loan’s rates is going to be cheaper so that infrastructure sector gets motivation for development home loans rate is decline up to 7.5% EMI at declining rate so that it becomes cheaper. The purpose of loan to purchase, extension , renovation, and land development. 3. Education Loans: Loans are given for education in country as well as abroad. 4. Vehicle Loans: Loans are given for purchase of scooter, auto-rickshaw, car, bikes etc.. The market size of auto finance is RS 7500 cr. Low interest rates, increasing income levels of people are the factors for growth in this sector. Even for second hand car finance is available. 5.Professional Loans: Loans are given to doctor, C.A, Architect, Engineer or Management Consultant. Here the loan repayment is normally done in the form of equated monthly. 6. Consumer Durable Loans: Under this,loans are given for acquisition of T.V,Cellphones,A.C,Washing Machines,Fridge and other items. 7.Loans against Shares and Securities: Finance against shares are given by banks for different uses. Now a days finance against shares are given mostly in demat shares. A margin of 50% is normally accepted by the bank on market value. For these loans the documents required are normally DP notes, letter of continuing security, pledge form, power of attorney. This loan can be used for business or personal purpose.


Services Provided By the Banks1. Credit Cards: A credit card is an instrument, which provides immediate credit facilities to its holder to avail a variety of goods and services at the merchant outlets. It is made of plastic and hence popularly called as Plastic Money. Such cards are issued by bank to persons with minimum income ranging between RS 50000 and RS 100000 per annum. And are accepted by a variety of business establishments which are notified by the card issuing bank. Some banks insist on the cardholder being their customers while others do not. Few banks do not charge any fee for issuing credit cards while others impose an initial enrollment fee and annual fee also. If the amount is not paid within the time duration the bank charges a flat interest of 2.5% Leading Indian Banks such as : SBI, BOB, Canara Bank, ICICI, HDFC and a few foreign banks like CITIBANK, Standard Chartered etc are the important issuers of credit card in India. 2. DEBIT CARDS: It is a new product introduced in India by Citibank a few years ago in association with MasterCard. A debit card facilitates purchases or payments by the cardholder . It debits money from the a/c of the cardholder during a transaction. This implies that the cardholder can spend only if his account permits. 3. NET BANKING: This facilitates the customers to do all their banking operations from their home by using the internet facility. With Net Banking one can carry out all banking and shopping transactions safely and with total confidentiality. With Net Banking one can easily perform various functions:


1. Check Account Balance 2. Download Account Statement 3. Request for a stop payment of a cheque. 4. Request for a new cheque book. 5. Make a FD/TDS enquiry. 6. Access DEMAT a/c 7. Transfer funds. 8. Facilitate bill Payments. 9. Open a FD 10. Pay Credit Card dues instantly. 4. Mobile Banking: To avail the mobile banking, one needs to have a savings, current and FD a/c and mobile connection. Using mobile banking facility one can – 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Check Balance Check last three transactions. Request for a statement Request for a cheque book. Enquire on a cheque status. Instruct stock cheque payment. View FD details. Transfer funds. Pay Utility Bills.

5. Phone Banking: It helps to conduct a wide range of banking transactions from the comfort of one’s home or office. Using phone banking facility one can 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Check Balance Check last three transactions. Request for a cheque book. Transfer funds. Enquire on a cheque status, and much more.

6. Anywhere Banking: One can operate his roaming current a/c at one centre at any other designated of a particular across any other centre. One can deposit or withdraw cash from any branch of a particular bank all over the country up to a prescribed limit.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking One can also transfer funds. 7.Automated Teller Machines ( ATM) : ATMs features user-friendly graphic screens with easy to follow instructions. The ATMs interact with customers in their local language for increased convenience. ATMs are generally located in commercial areas, residential localities, major petrol pumps, airports, near railway stations and other places, which are conveniently accessible to customers. ICICI Bank’s ATM network is one of the largest and most widespread ATM network in India. Following are the features available on ATMs which can be accessed from anywhere at anytime : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Cash Withdrawal Cash Deposit Balance Enquiry Mini A/c Statements Cheque Book Request Transaction at various merchant establishments.

9. Smart Card: The smart card, a latest additional to the world of banking and information technology has emerged as the largest volume driven end-product in the world due to its data portability, security and convenience. Smart Card is similar in size to today’s plastic payment card, it has a memory chip embedded in it. The chip stores electronic data and programmes that are protected by advanced security features. When coupled with a reader, the smart card has the processing power to serve many different applications. As an access-control device, smart cards make personal and business data available only to appropriate users. To ensure the confidentiality of all banking service, smart cards have mechanisms offering a high degree of security. These mechanisms are based on private and public key cryptography combined with a digital certificate, one of the most advanced security techniques currently available. Infact , it is possible to connect to the web banking service without a smart card.

Banking on Retail

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking With a jump in the Indian economy from a manufacturing sector, that never really took off, to a nascent service sector, Banking as a whole is undergoing a change. A larger option for the consumer is getting translated into a larger demand for financial products and customization of services is fast becoming the norm than a competitive advantage. With the Retail banking sector expected to grow at a rate of 30% [Chanda Kochhar, ED, ICICI Bank] players are focusing more and more on the Retail and are waking up to the potential of this sector of banking. At the same time, the banking sector as a whole is seeing structural changes in regulatory frameworks and securitization and stringent NPA norms expected to be in place by 2004 means the faster one adapts to these changing dynamics, the faster is one expected to gain the advantage. The reasons behind the euphemism regarding the Retail-focus of the Indian banks and how much of it is worth the attention that it is attracting are the question here.. Potential for Retail in India: Is sky the limit? The Indian players are bullish on the Retail business and this is not totally unfounded. There are two main reasons behind this. Firstly, it is now undeniable that the face of the Indian consumer is changing. This is reflected in a change in the urban household income pattern. The direct fallout of such a change will be the consumption patterns and hence the banking habits of Indians, which will now be skewed towards Retail products. At the same time, India compares pretty poorly with the other economies of the world that are now becoming comparable in terms of spending patterns with the opening up of our economy. For instance, while the total outstanding Retail loans in Taiwan is around 41% of GDP, the figure in India stands at less than 5%. The comparison with the West is even more staggering. Another comparison that is natural when comparing Retail sectors is the use of credit cards. Here also, the potential lies in the fact that of all the consumer expenditure in India in 2001, less than 1% was through plastic, the corresponding US figure standing at 18%. But how competitive are the players? The fact that the statistics reveal a huge potential also brings with it a threat that is true for any sector of a country that is opening up. Just how competitive are our banks? Is the threat of getting drubbed by foreign competition real? To analyze this, one needs to get

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking into the shoes of the foreign banks. In other words, how do they see us? Are we good takeover targets? Going by international standards, a large portion of the Indian population is simply not “bankable” – taking profitability into consideration. On the other hand, the financial services market is highly over-leveraged in India. Competition is fierce, particularly from local private banks such as HDFC and ICICI, in the business of home, car and consumer loans. There, precisely lie the pitfalls of such explosive growth. All banks are targeting the fluffiest segment i.e. the upwardly mobile urban salaried class. Although the players are spreading their operations into segments like self- employed and the semi-urban rich, it is an open secret that the big city Indian yuppies form the most profitable segment. Over-dependence on this segment is bound to bring in inflexibility in the business. What about the foreign giants? The foreign banks have identified this problem but there are certain systematic risks involved in operating in the Retail market for them. These include regulatory restrictions that prevent them from expanding their branch network. So these banks often take the Direct Selling Agent (DSA) route whereby low-end jobs like sourcing or transaction processing are outsourced to small regional layers. So now on, when you see a loan mela or a road show showcasing the retail bouquet of an elite MNC giant, you know that a significant commission earned out of any such booking gets ploughed back to our own economy. Perhaps, one of the biggest impediments in foreign players leveraging the Indian markets is the absence of positive credit bureaus. In the west the risk profile can be easily mapped to things like SSNs and this information can be publicly traded. PAN is a step in this direction but lot more work need to be done. What has been a positive step towards this is a negative file sharing started by a consortium of 11 banks. However, as a McKinsey study points out actual write-offs on NPAs show a strong negative correlation with sharing of positive information. On top of this, the spend-nowpay-later “credit culture” in India is just not picking up. A swift legal procedure against consumers creating bad debt is virtually non-existent. Finally, the vast geographical and cultural diversity of the country makes credit policy formulation a tough job and it simply

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking cannot be dictated from a Wall Street or a Singapore boardroom! All these add up to the unattractiveness of the Indian retail market to the foreign players. So over the past few years, in spite of the entry of MNCs in many industries, Retail Banking has seen a flurry of panicky exits. Fewer than 40 remain in India and their share of total bank assets currently 7.2% is falling. Those that remain might be thought to be likely buyers of Indian banks. Yet Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered—all in India for more than a century, and with relatively large retail networks—seem to have no pressing need to acquire a local bank. Established foreign banks have preferred to take over customers or businesses from other foreign banks that want to leave. Thus HSBC, in recent years, has acquired customers from France's BNP, Germany's Deutsche Bank and Japan's Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. ABN Amro took over Bank of America's retail business. So all for the keeping then? This will perhaps be the most wrongful inference that can be drawn from the above. We just cannot afford to look inwards and repeat the mistakes that were the side effects of the Nationalization of the Banking System. A growing market can never be an alibi for lack of innovation. Indian banks have shown little or no interest in innovative tailor-made products. They have often tried to copy process designs that have been tested, albeit successfully, in the West. Each economic culture has its own traits and one who successfully adapts those to the business is the eventual winner. A case in point is the successful implementation of micro-credit networks in Bangladesh. Positioning a bank as a tech-savvy financial vendor in a country where Internet penetration is an abysmal 1.65% can only add to the over-leveraging as pointed out earlier. The focus of the sector should remain in macroeconomic wealth creation and not increasing the per capita indebtedness that will do little but add to the NPA burden. Retail Banking in India has to be developed in the Indian way, notwithstanding the long queues in front of the teller counters in the Public sector banks.


Company Profile HDFC BANK The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was amongst the first to receive an 'in-principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector, as part of the RBI's liberalization of the Indian Banking Industry in 1994. The bank was incorporated in August 1994 in the name of 'HDFC Bank Limited', with its registered office in Mumbai, India. HDFC Bank commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995.

Promoter HDFC is India's premier housing finance company and enjoys an impeccable track record in India as well as in international markets. Since its inception in 1977, the Corporation has maintained a consistent and healthy growth in its operations to remain a market leader in mortgages. Its outstanding loan portfolio covers well over a million dwelling units. HDFC has developed significant expertise in retail mortgage loans to different market segments and also has a large corporate client base for its housing related credit facilities. With its experience in the financial markets, a strong market reputation, large shareholder base and unique consumer franchise, HDFC was ideally positioned to promote a bank in the Indian environment. Management Mr. Jagdish Capoor took over as the bank's Chairman in July 2001. Prior to this, Mr. Capoor was a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The Managing Director, Mr. Aditya Puri, has been a professional banker for over 25 years, and before joining HDFC Bank in 1994 was heading Citibank's operations in Malaysia. The Bank's Board of Directors is composed of eminent individuals with a wealth of

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking experience in public policy, administration, industry and commercial banking. Senior executives representing HDFC are also on the Board. Senior banking professionals with substantial experience in India and abroad head various businesses and functions and report to the Managing Director. Given the professional expertise of the management team and the overall focus on recruiting and retaining the best talent in the industry, the bank believes that its people are a significant competitive strength.

ICICI BANK

ICICI Bank is India's second-largest bank with total assets of about Rs.132, 780 crore at September 30, 2004 and profit after tax of Rs. 873 crore in the half year ended September 30, 2004 (Rs. 1,637 crore in fiscal 2004). ICICI Bank has a network of about 470 branches and extension counters and over 1,800 ATMs. ICICI Bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries and affiliates in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management. ICICI Bank set up its international banking group in fiscal 2002 to cater to the cross-border needs of clients and leverage on its domestic banking strengths to offer products internationally. ICICI Bank currently has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Canada, branches in Singapore and Bahrain and representative offices in the United States, China, United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh.

ICICI Bank's equity shares are listed in India on the Stock Exchange, Mumbai and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited and its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

ICICI Bank was originally promoted in 1994 by ICICI Limited, an Indian financial institution, and was its wholly-owned subsidiary. ICICI's shareholding in ICICI Bank was reduced to 46% through a public offering of shares in India in fiscal 1998, an equity offering in the form of ADRs listed on the NYSE in fiscal 2000, ICICI Bank's acquisition of Bank of Madura Limited in an all-stock amalgamation in fiscal 2001, and


secondary market sales by ICICI to institutional investors in fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2002. ICICI was formed in 1955 at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India and representatives of Indian industry. The principal objective was to create a development financial institution for providing medium-term and long-term project financing to Indian businesses. In the 1990s, ICICI transformed its business from a development financial institution offering only project finance to a diversified financial services group offering a wide variety of products and services, both directly and through a number of subsidiaries and affiliates like ICICI Bank. In 1999, ICICI become the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to be listed on the NYSE.

After consideration of various corporate structuring alternatives in the context of the emerging competitive scenario in the Indian banking industry, and the move towards universal banking, the managements of ICICI and ICICI Bank formed the view that the merger of ICICI with ICICI Bank would be the optimal strategic alternative for both entities, and would create the optimal legal structure for the ICICI group's universal banking strategy. The merger would enhance value for ICICI shareholders through the merged entity's access to low-cost deposits, greater opportunities for earning fee-based income and the ability to participate in the payments system and provide transactionbanking services. The merger would enhance value for ICICI Bank shareholders through a large capital base and scale of operations, seamless access to ICICI's strong corporate relationships built up over five decades, entry into new business segments, higher market share in various business segments, particularly fee-based services, and access to the vast talent pool of ICICI and its subsidiaries. In October 2001, the Boards of Directors of ICICI and ICICI Bank approved the merger of ICICI and two of its wholly-owned retail finance subsidiaries, ICICI Personal Financial Services Limited and ICICI Capital Services Limited, with ICICI Bank. The merger was approved by shareholders of ICICI and ICICI Bank in January 2002, by the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in March 2002, and by the High Court of Judicature at Mumbai and the Reserve Bank of India in April 2002. Consequent to the merger, the ICICI group's financing and banking operations, both wholesale and retail, have been integrated in a single entity.


Board Members Mr. N. Vaghul, Chairman Mr. Uday M. Chitale Mr. P.C. Ghosh Mr. S.B. Mathur Mr. L. N. Mittal Mr. Anupam Puri Mr. Vinod Rai Mr. Somesh R. Sathe Mr. P.M. Sinha Mr. M.K. Sharma Prof. Marti G. Subrahmanyam Mr. V. Prem Watsa Mr. K.V. Kamath, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Ms. Lalita D. Gupte, Joint Managing Director Ms. Kalpana Morparia, Deputy Managing Director Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Executive Director Dr. Nachiket Mor, Executive Director


STATE BANK OF INDIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Shri A.K.Purwar, Managing Directors Shri K.Ashok Kini Shri T.S. Bhattacharya Directors Shri K P Jhunjhunwala Shri P.R.Khanna Shri Suman Kumar Bery Dr I.G.Patel Shri Ajay.G. Piramal Shri Ananta Chandra Kalita Shri Shantha Raju Shri N.S.Sisodia Smt. Shyamala Gopinath Shri Arun Singh Shri Rajiv Pandey Shri Piyush Goyal

Corporation Bank Established in the year 1906, Corporation Bank is an organization based on the traditional Indian values of service to the community. Corp Bank is regarded as one of the well-run banks in the comity of Public Sector Banks in the country. The Bank has a unique history of 98 years of successful Banking and has stood the test of time by growing steadily, offering vast, varied and versatile services with a personal touch. Today, its good customer service, pre-eminent track record in House Keeping, adherence to Prudential Accounting norms, consistent profitability and adoption of modern technology for betterment of customer service have earned the Bank a place of pride in the Banking Community. The Bank has been richly endowed with a relatively young, dynamic and efficient manpower, which is the key factor of the Bank’s success. The Bank is a Public Sector Unit with 57.17% of Share Capital held by the Government

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking of India. The Bank came out with its Initial Public Offer (IPO) in October 1997 and 37.87% of Share Capital is presently held by the Public and Financial Institutions. Corporation Bank is the first Public Sector Bank to publish the results under US GAAP. The Bank has been publishing the results under the US GAAP since 1998-99. The net profit of the Bank and its subsidiaries under US GAAP for the year 2002-03 stood at Rs. 382.12 crore against consolidated net profit of Rs. 415.99 crore . As on 31.03.04, the Bank has a highly dedicated team of 10,176 fulltime employees who have made the encouraging performance of the Bank possible by extending exemplary services to its customers. The Bank will continue its endeavours in the development of human capital so as to provide unmatched services to its clientele.

Standard Chartered Leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East Standard Chartered employs 30,000 people in over 500 locations in more than 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas. It is one of the world's most international banks, with a management team comprising 70 nationalities. Standard Chartered is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is in the top 25 FTSE-100 companies, by market capitalisation. It serves both Consumer and Wholesale Banking customers. Consumer Banking provides credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, deposit taking and wealth management services to individuals and small to medium sized enterprises. Wholesale Banking provides corporate and institutional clients with services in trade finance, cash management, lending, custody, foreign exchange, debt capital markets and corporate finance. Standard Chartered is well-established in growth markets and aims to be the right partner for its customers. The Bank combines deep local knowledge with global capability. The Bank is trusted across its network for its standard of governance and its commitment to making a difference in the communities in which it operates.


Executive Directors Bryan Sanderson CBE Mervyn Davies CBE Mike DeNoma Chris Keljik Richard Meddings Kai Nargolwala Peter Sands

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking What is Customer Service? Customer Service is the service provided in support of a company’s core products. Customer Service most often includes answering questions, taking orders, dealing with billing issues, handling complaints, and perhaps scheduling maintenance or repairs. Customer Service can occur on site , or it can occur over the phone or via the internet. Many companies operate customer service call centers, often staffed around the clock. Typically there is no charge for customer service. Quality customer service is essential to building customer relationships. It should not, however, be confused with the services provided for sale by a company. Services tend to be more intangible than manufactured products. There is a growing market for services and increasing dominance of services in economies worldwide. There are generally two types of customer expectations. The highest can be termed as desired service : the level of service the customer hopes to receive. The threshold level of acceptable service which the customers will accept is adequate service. Yet there is hard evidence that consumers perceive lower quality of service overall and are less satisfied. Possible reasons might be: •

With more companies offering tiered service based on the calculated profitability of different market segments, many customers are in fact getting less service than they have in past.

•

Increasing use by companies of self-service and technology-based service is perceived as less service because no human interaction or human personalization is provided.

•

Technology-based services ( Automated Voice Systems, Internet-Based Services, Technology Kiosks) are hard to implement, and there are many failures and poorly designed systems in place.

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Customer expectations are higher because of the excellent service they receive from some companies. Thus they expect the same from all and are frequently disappointed.

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Organizations have cut costs to the extent that they are too lean and are too understaffed to provide quality service.

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The intensely competitive job market results in less skilled people working in frontline service jobs ;talented workers soon get promoted or leave for better opportunities.

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Many companies give lip service to customer focus and service quality; but they fail to provide the training , compensation, and support needed to actually deliver quality service.


•

Delivering consistent, high-quality service is not easy, yet many companies promise it.

The gaps model positions the key concepts, strategies, and decisions in services marketing in a manner that begins with the customer and builds the organization’s tasks around what is needed to close the gap between customer expectations and perceptions. The central focus of the gaps model is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations and perceptions. Firms need to close this gap- between what customers expect and receive – in order to satisfy their customers and build long term relationships with them. To close this all important customer gap, the model suggests that four gaps- the provider gaps- need to be closed. The following four provider gaps, shown below are the underlying causes behind the customer gap: Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect. Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards. Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards. Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises.

RESEARCH DESIGN


Objectives of the study: There has been an honest attempt to – -


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Identify key factors and strategies employed by individual banks to increase their market share in retail banking.

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Understand the perception of the customers and the management with respect to services offered by banks.

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Generate additional information to analyze the gap between the customer and management perceptions about the services offered by banks.

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Conclude and enumerate the innovations required to reduce the gap and increase the customer base of banks.

Scope of the Study: Scope of the study is to understand the various services and the products offered by the banks to the individual customers and to find out the gaps in the services being offered and the customer expectations. An effort is also made to suggest the banks as to where the gaps exist and what needs to be done to close the gaps. The study was done taking six banks into consideration. They are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered, SBI, Corporation Bank. The survey was restricted to the bank customers in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

Methodology:

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking The report

“Analyzing the Gap between Management Perception and Customer

Perception With Respect To the Services Offered In Retail Banking” aims to assimilate data about the various aspects of Retail banking services, to analyze the perceptions of the management and the customers regarding the services offered in Retail banking and to find out whether any gaps do exist between the services offered and the customer expectations. We have taken 6 Banks which represent the Nationalized, Private and Multinational Banks of the Banking Industry in India-

SBI

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Corporation Bank

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HDFC Bank

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ICICI Bank

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Citibank

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Standard Chartered Bank

The criteria for selecting these banks were their deposit base. We have limited our Service Category to the core services in Retail Banking and a few specialized services. The report is a mixture of Secondary and Primary data, with Questionnaires being our major instrument to collect primary data. Major topics we have attempted to cover in this project are to: -


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Understand the perception of the management with respect to services offered by banks.

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Understand the perception of the customers with respect to services offered by banks.

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Analyze whether there is a gap between the customer and management perceptions about the services offered by the banks.

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Conclude and enumerate the recommendations that might help to reduce the gaps that exist and foster the relationship of the customer more with the bank.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Data collection Method: Secondary Data:In order to have a proper understanding of the sector of Retail Banking an in depth study was done from the various books, magazines, articles written on the subject. A lot of data has also been collected from these and also from websites on the topic as also from the websites of the six banks. Primary Data: The primary data was collected by means of a survey. Questionnaires were prepared and customers of the six banks were approached to fill up these questionnaires. The filled up information was later analyzed to obtain the required information. Sampling Plan: Sampling was one of the methods of data and information collection. Two types of samples were used . One was the management to gain an understanding about their perceptions of the services they provide. Other was the customers of these banks to gain an idea about as to how they rate the services they obtain. The sample size of the customers was 10 each from each of the six banks ie.60 customers. The management sample size was restricted to 1 each, namely the Branch Manager from the six banks which is 6 managers. Data Collection Source: The study required the understanding of the concept of Retail Banking and of the various products associated with it. The method used was that of secondary research and primary research. Under secondary research a detailed study was done from the various books, journals, magazines written on the subject of banking ad retail banking to obtain the required information and to have a precise idea of the services of retail banking.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Field Work: The branch managers of each of the six banks were approached and questions were put to them as per the questionnaire, and the answers duly filled up. Appropriate probing was done where ever necessary. For the customers ‘cold calling’ was the approach employed. The customers coming to the banks were approached and as per their convenience and acceptance the questions were put to them and the answers given by them duly filled up. Here too probing was employed where deemed necessary. Limitations: •

The sample size was restricted with in the area Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar.

•

Further it was a convenience sampling.

•

There were time and cost limitations.

•

The six banks selected have been considered as representatives of the banking sector. Also the opinions have been generalized to the public.

•

This project has been done for academic purpose – and not done as a professional researcher for the company.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Analysis Q1 How do you rate the courtesy levels of your bank’s Personnel/Staff? Rate Percentage

Excellent 34

VeryGood 50

Good 16

Average

Poor

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50

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34

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Rating Rate Percentage

Excellent 7

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Average

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Courtesy Levels of Bank Employees(as per Cust.)

Rating

Q2. Rate as to how well informed/knowledgeable you feel the bank staff is in


answering/solving your questions/queries? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

0

66

34

0

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66

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

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34

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Knowledge Possessed by Bank Employees(as per Mgmt.)

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Rate Percentage

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Knowledge Possessed by Bank Employees(as per Cust.)

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Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Q3. Rate the aspect as to how fast the personnel are in responding/attending

to you? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

34

16

0

0

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50


34 16

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Fast/Speedy Response of Bank Employees(as per Mgmt.)


Excellent

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Average

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Fast/Speedy Response of Bank Employees(as per Cust.) Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Q4. a. How do you rate your bank with regards to the “Transaction time”

taken for cash withdrawal/deposits? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

50

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50

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Transaction Time for Cash Withdrawal/Deposits (as per Mgmt.)


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16

54

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G oo d

V

er y

G

lle

nt

oo d

6

xc e E

Percentage

Transaction Time for Cash Withdrawal/Deposits (as per Cust.) Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor


4.b.Rate the bank with regards to the transaction time taken to issue

DD/Cheque/Statements? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

34

16

0

0

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50

Excellent Very Good

34

Good Average Poor

16

or P

o

ra ve

V

e

A

ry

G o

G

o

g

d

o o

lle e xc E

0

e

d

0 nt

Percentage

Transaction Time for DD/Cheque (as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

14

50

16

16

4

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50

Excellent Very Good 16

14

16

or

e

Rating

o P

ve

ra

g

o d A

ry V

e

G o

e

G

lle

o o

nt

d

4

xc E

Percentage

Transaction Time for DD/Cheque (as per Cust.)

Good Average Poor


Q 5. Rate how hasslefree it was/is for you to open an account with the bank Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

34

50

16

0

0

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50

Excellent

34

Very Good Good

16

Average Poor

or

e

V

e

A

ve

P

o

ra

o

ry

G o

G

e xc E

0

g

d

o o

nt

d

0 lle

Percentage

Hasslefree Account opening(as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

15

50

15

10

10

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50


15

10

or

e

10

P

ra ve

Rating

o

g

d o A

ry V

e

G o

e

G

o

lle

o

nt

d

15

xc E

Percentage

Hasslefree Account Opening (as per Cust.)

Average Poor


Q6.How do you rate your bank’s product or service innovation in the past two years? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

50

0

0

0

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50

50


or

e

V

e

A

ve

P

o

ra

o G o

G ry

Average Poor

0

g

d

o o

nt

e xc E

0

d

0 lle

Percentage

Product /Service Innovation By Bank (as per Mgmt.)


Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

6

50

32

12

0

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

50

Excellent Very Good

32

or P

ra ve A

Rating

o

g

d o G o

o o G ry

V

e

e

d

0

nt lle

Good Average

12

6

xc e E

Percentage

Product /Service Innovation By Bank (as per Cust.)

Poor


Q 7. How do you rate your bank regarding its promptness in keeping you

informed of deposit rates /service charges? VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

33

34

33

0

0

Promptness in informing about Deposit/Serv ice Charges By Bank (as per Mgmt.) 34

33

33

e

0

P

v e

o

ra

o r

g

0

A

V

E

e

x

ry

G o

G

o

o

d

o

n t

d

Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor ll e

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Excellent

c e

Percentage

Rate Percentage

Rating

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

4

20

26

40

10

Promptness in informing about Deposit/Serv ice Charges By Bank (as per Cust.)

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

40

Excellent Very Good

26 20

Good 10

e

o P

e ra v

Rating

o r

g

d o A

ry e V

G o

e

G

o

lle

o

n t

d

4

c x E

Percentage

Rate Percentage

Average Poor

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Q8. How do you rate your banks grievance redressal system? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

17

83

0

0

0

83

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0


17

e

0 o r

g

o

ra

P

e v

e

A

ry

G o

G

o

o

d

o

n t e

c x

V

E

0

d

0 lle

Percentage

Griev ance Redressal system By Bank (as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

3

23

46

24

4

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

46 Excellent Very Good

24

23

Good

4

P

e v

Rating

o o r

e ra g

d o G o

A

V

e

ry

e

G

o

ll e

o

n t

d

3

x c E

Percentage

Griev ance Redressal system By Bank (as per Cust.)

Average Poor

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

5

26

40

25

4

40 Excellent 26

Very Good Good

5

o P

v e A

Rating

o r

g e ra

d o

G ry e

G o

o o

n t

d

4

ll e V

x

25

Average

c e

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

E

Percentage

Entertainment of Griev ences By Bank (as per Cust.)

Poor


Q 10. How do you rate your bank/ branch facility in terms of the comfort

facilities it offersRate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

34

16

0

0

Percentage

Infrastructure of the Bank (as per Mgmt.) 60

50

50 40


34

30 16

20 10

e

A

v

P

e

o

ra

o r

g

d

ry

G o

G

o

o

lle c e x

V

E

0

e

d

0

o

n t

0

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

4

53

20

20

3

60

53

50

Excellent Very Good

40 30

20

20 10

Good

20

Average Poor

4

Rating

P

o

o r

g A

v

e

ra

o G o

ry e V

d

o G

o

lle e c x

e

d

3

n t

0

E

Percentage

Infrastructure of the Bank (as per Cust.)


Q11. How do you rate the quality of ATM services provided by the bank? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

50

0

0

0

60

50

50

50 Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor

40 30 20 0

g

d o

o

A

v

P

e

G o

G ry e V

E

0 e

d o

lle e c x

0

o

n t

0

o r

10

ra

Percentage

Quality of ATM Serv ices (as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

24

36

16

20

4

40 35 30 25

36 Excellent

24

Very Good

20

20 15 10 5 0

Good Average

16

e

o P

ra v e

Rating

o r

g

d o G o

A

V

e

ry

c

e

G

o

lle

o

n t

d

4

x E

Percentage

Quality of ATM Serv ices (as per Cust.)

Poor


Q12 .a.How do you rate the Debit card services offered by your bank? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

66

34

0

0

0

66

70 60

Excellent Very Good

50 40

34

Good Average Poor

30 20 10

e

0 o r

g

o P

v e

e

A

ry

G o

G

o

o

d

o

n t lle e

c x

V

E

0

d

0

0

ra

Percentage

Debit Card Services (as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

11

46

36

7

0

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

46 36


11

Average Poor

7

o r

e

P

ra e v

Rating

o

g

d o G o

A

V

e

ry

c

e

G

o

lle

o

n t

d

0

x E

Percentage

Debit Card Services (as per Cust.)


Q12.b. How do you rate the Credit card services offered by your bank? Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

0

66

17

17

0

66

70 60


50 40 30 17

20 10

17 0 e

o

ra

P

e A

e V

E

o r

g

d

ry

G o

G

o

o

lle c e x

v

n t

d

0

0

o

Percentage

Credit Card Services (as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

0

66

17

17

0

Credit Card Services (as per Cust.) 66

60 Excellent Very Good Good

50 40 30 17

20 10

Average Poor

17 0 e

A

Rating

o r o P

v

e

ra

g

d G o o

ry e V

x

c

e

G

o

lle

o

n t

d

0

0

E

Percentage

70

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Q 13.a. Rate your bank as to how fast you feel it is in processing and

disbursing loans. Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

50

34

16

0

0

Percentage

Fastness in Processing and Disbursing Loans (as per Mgmt.) 60

50

50 40

Excellent Very Good Good Average

34

30 16

20

Poor

10

e

A

v

P

e

o

ra

o r

g

d o

ry

G o

G

lle e c x

V

E

0

e

d

0

o o

n t

0

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

6

46

36

7

5

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

46 36

Excellent Very Good Good Average 7 e

5

o P

ra v e

Rating

o r

g

d o G o

A

V

e

ry

c

e

G

o

lle

o

n t

d

6

x E

Percentage

Fastness in Processing and Disbursing Loans (as per Cust.)

Poor


Q13b. Rate the interest rates currently being offered Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

17

67

0

16

0

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

67

17


16

e

o r

g

o

ra

P

e v

e

A

ry

G o

G

o

o

d

o

n t

c e x

V

E

0

d

0 lle

Percentage

Rating of Interest Rates offered(as per Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

3

56

41

0

0

Rating of Interest Rates offered(as per Cust.) 56

50

41

Excellent

40 30

Very Good Good

20

Average Poor 3 ra e v A

Rating

0 o o r

g

d o G o

ry V

e

e

d o G

o

lle c e x

0

n t

0

P

10

E

Percentage

60


Q14. a. Do you use the phone/net banking facility offered by your bank? yes 6

no 0

Number

Phone/Net Banking Whether being used (Mgmt.) 10 yes

5

no

0 yes

no Response

yes 46

no 54

Number

Phone/Net Banking Whether being used (Cust.) 55 50

yes

45 40

no yes

no Response

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Q14.b. Rate the quality of the phone/net banking facility offered by your

bank. Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

33

33

17

17

0

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Excellent VeryGood Good

e

o r

g

o P

e v A

e V

E

ra

o G o

ry G o

e x c

d

o

n t

d

Average Poor ll e

Percentage

Quality of Phone/Net Banking Facilities (Mgmt.)

Rating

Rate Percentage

Excellent

VeryGood

Good

Average

Poor

0

71

21

8

0

80 70 Excellent

50

VeryGood

40

Good

30 20

Average Poor e

o P

e v A

Rating

o r

g ra

d o G o

e V

x c

e

ry G o

ll e

o

n t

10 0

d

60

E

Percentage

Quality of Phone/Net Banking Facilities (Cust.)


Strategies for Increasing Retail Banking Business – 1. In the view to increase the business, bankers should undertake the risk assessment for the customers and continuously study their behavior for timely fulfillment of their needs. 2. Technology should be upgraded continuously as well as it should be customer oriented. 3. Public Sector Banks need to be more professional in their approach. They should also be more customer oriented. 4. Proper and continuous training should be provided to the staff. 5. The main concern for the bank should be to build up a IT Savvy Customer Base. Due to various reasons, the principal being Security, people have a mental block in using this technology which is otherwise very convenient and customer friendly. 6. The banks would also have to gear up to use the international standards in areas like Demat of Securities, electronic settlement system for funds and securities. 7. Banks must work out strategic plans to computerize their rural and semi-urban branch operations. 8. The inter branch and inter bank funds transfer mechanisms should be more effective. 9. The public sector banks have to adapt themselves to the growing demands of the industry.


Future of Retail Banking The Banker asked European banks what they consider the future of retail banking to be. The results, put together with the help of Henrion Ludlow Schmidt and Enalyzer, highlight the sector’s strengths and fears as it heads into the 21st century. What will the retail bank of the future look like, how it will operate and how will it change from the bank of today? The Banker surveyed the top 300 banks in western Europe plus the top 100 banks in central and eastern Europe based on our rankings and asked bankers for their views. With the help of Henrion Ludlow Schmidt, one of Europe’s leading independent brand consultancies, and Enalyzer, which markets cutting edge eResearch solutions, we received detailed online responses from 58 banks across 26 countries. In brief, consumers are going to expect more in terms of accessibility, personalisation and product/service innovation and the successful retail bank of the future will be brand-led with all its activities – from recruitment to marketing, from strategy to implementation – guided by a constantly reviewed and differentiated brand vision. Such a bank will also make use of a greater degree of advanced technology, including online transactions, but will not shift to a virtual model – it will have to retain a real feel. The key findings from the responses of the 58 banks are divided into topic areas as follows, and calibrated replies can be noted in the charts related to the 56 individual questions asked in six key question blocks. Technology The provision of online banking facilities and converging technologies will dominate the retail bank of the future to provide product information, give financial advice and to allow customers to access and manage their accounts online. Ninety-three percent of respondents see an increase in online transactions. Internet banking will be the norm in five years’ time – 86% selected online as one of the top three methods used to contact banks – allowing 24-hour availability. ATMs are regarded as one of the main future methods of contact with the customer (62%), which is interesting given reciprocity agreements diminishing branded experience and the discussion about the cashless society. Banks will need to develop powerful technology solutions, driven by customer demand. Bankers still expect personal callers at their branches (56%). Mobile phone contacts are not expected to be that significant (30%) but there is the question of what impact 3G technology will make in the future. Branding Brand reputation and building stronger brands is of crucial significance to bankers planning the future of retail banking in Europe. Ninety-six percent think it is extremely

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking important or important to build up brand reputation and personality to create stronger customer loyalty. The majority thinks that the market will be dominated by strong brands (89%) but there is less support for the creation of ‘new’ brands (64% disagree or strongly disagree with this). A strong brand is seen as extremely important to attracting customers, differentiating players from their competitors and gaining trust. Transparency seems to be an important factor for building a strong brand (96%). Opinions drift more apart on the subject of a shift to ‘virtual’ banks (40% strongly agree or agree whereas 60% disagree or strongly disagree). Seventy-one percent strongly agree or agree over the importance of the development of cross-border networks whereas only 64% see cross-border consolidation coming. Building up brand reputation and personality is regarded as much more important (96%) than building global networks (60%). Bankers think brand reputation and personality create stronger loyalty than physical presence on the high street (83%). More than one third believes that a strong brand does not protect the retail banking business from the effects of economic slowdown and recession. Motivated staff (100%) and internal communications (95%) are considered to be the most powerful drivers to build a strong brand. Products and services The majority of the participants find personalised/individual products and services of high quality and innovation crucially important for supporting customers’ needs and aspirations. Competence in financial advice is regarded as extremely important or important by 96%. The product offer should be clear (86%) and the breadth of offer is also considered key (70%). The most important ancillary products and services are 24-hour service (57%), pensions (57%), portfolio management (54%), financial consultation (54%) and insurance products (52%), whereas less than 10% consider stockbroking, communication products or legal products as important. Low fees and service charges do not seem to be very significant. They are seen as extremely important or important by only 58%. However, the majority of respondents think that reducing interchange fees for card transactions are less important. Opinion is divided over the “one-stop-shop” – offering all products under a single umbrella. Bank management and development All respondents see the vital contribution of people, in terms of attitudes and knowledge. Bankers acknowledge that it will be their staff who secure their survival in the next five years. Staff need to be skilled, helpful and motivated. Having a company culture, a clear vision and values are important for the majority.

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking Among the most influential tasks/ functions in the organisation for shaping the retail bank of the future, the majority clearly regards customer relationship management (89%) as most important, followed by marketing and communications as well as IT and organisation (both 59%). Sales and quality management are also expected to become more influential (52% and 51%). More than two-thirds think the influence of knowledge management will stay the same. More than one-third (38%) believe acquisitions will play a less significant role in the future. Ethics and transparency are being recognised as significant business drivers. The implementation of performance standards could help to improve financial performance (82%). Local branches are still considered as extremely important or important by 70%. Banks are likely to stay banks – free of coffee shops and gimmicks. One-stop-shop and more relaxed ambience in branches are regarded as less important. One respondent commented that the development of retail banking would depend highly on tax regulations. Communications and marketing Like branding, the importance of communications and marketing cannot be denied. Ninety-four percent expect marketing to be of growing importance in shaping the retail bank of the future. Furthermore, pro-active marketing is regarded as very important to retain and foster the customer relationship (87%). The bankers questioned see a strong importance of internal communications (see also Branding). Market and customers Banks are becoming more customer focused. The majority agree that a stronger focus should be put on the private client sector (extremely important or important for 83%) as well as on banking for small businesses (89%). Relationships with customers will change considerably – although personal contact will still be important. The highest overall agreement is over the growing importance of customer relationship management, including attraction of customers but also building up customer loyalty. Seventy percent of bankers expect their customers to become less loyal and to transfer between banks more frequently. Seventy-seven percent believe ethical management of funds will increasingly influence customer choice. Almost all believe that it is extremely important or important to differentiate from competitors. The analysis of this data could be greatly extended given the wide range of questions and responses shown. And while the results of this survey came from 26 European countries,

Gap Analysis of Services offered in Retail Banking led by Spain with seven responses, the analysis in many instances provides critical food for thought for retail banks around the world. Business models that focus on core competence suggest that the retail bank of the future might: •

build core financial products that are highly specialised but sold to retail instructions;

•

commission financial products from specialised ‘manufacturers’ to be rebranded/white-labelled and combined with own products;

•

specialise in financial retail, only sourcing appropriate products and packaging as needed, either on demand or through long-term supplier contracts;

•

do everything, build, package, brand and sell own financial products and services.


Bibliography 1. Books and Magazines: Services Marketing – By Valarie Zeithaml and Mary Jo Bitner Banking and Finance Business Today Outlook Money 2. Newspapers: Business Standard Economic Times Times of India 3. Brochures and Catalogues Provided By: State Bank Of India Corporation Bank HDFC Bank ICICI Bank Standard Chartered Citibank 4. Internet Web-Sites: Google.com Indiainfoline.com

Gap Analysis of Services Offered in Retail Banking

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