16 | business | H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I

M O N DAY, M A R C H 2 9 , 2 0 1 0

user’schoice
India’s
best
banks
HT-MaRS CONSUMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

Satisfaction
COMPETITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Here’s what consumers like, and don’t
like, about banks.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE WITH BANK STAFF
Score
Axis Bank 761

vault
ICICI Bank 750
HDFC Bank 750
Canara Bank 742
IOB 733
SBI 733
Union Bank 731
Indian Bank 731
Syndicate Bank 728
UCO Bank 728
PNB 727
Central Bank 721
Bank of Baroda 720
Corpn Bank 717
Bank of India 716
OBC 715
Dena Bank 715
Allahabad Bank 713

POSITIVE NOTE Axis Bank edges past Vijaya Bank

United Bank
701
692

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to the top OVERALL BRANCH FACILITIES
spot. And yes, state-owned banks are Axis Bank
ICICI Bank
751
746

right up there with the best.

HDFC Bank 746
Canara Bank 738
Indian Bank 736
PNB 732
SBI 730
Syndicate Bank 726
UCO Bank 726
Union Bank 721
Central Bank 719
Bank of Baroda 715
Bank of India 714
IOB 711
Corpn Bank 707
Allahabad Bank 705
Vijaya Bank 703
Dena Bank 700
OBC 698
United Bank 695

ILLUSTRATION: ABHIMANYU SINHA

ACCOUNT OPENING PROCESS
Vijaya Bank 776
Axis Bank 771

F
Arnab Mitra
INDIA’S BEST BANKS
Public sector banks have
THE SECOND WAVE
HDFC Bank 761
■ arnab.mitra@hindustantimes.com
751
beaten their private sector Indian Bank

OF CONSUMER
749
inally, the dark horse ran away
with the prize. counterparts in most cities. If There isn’t really much to choose between the top SBI
746
ICICI Bank
Axis Bank, which many only they can raise their minimum 6-7 banks. With slight improvements in service
BANKING IS HERE
Union Bank 741
people had written off a few
standards, they will give private standards, any of them can edge ahead of the pack. PNB 738
years ago, has been rated
India’s best bank, ahead of banks a run for their money. OBC 734
more famous and in-the-news Bank Score Tamal Bandyopadhyay Central Bank 733
R A G H U R O Y , MD, MaRs
rivals like HDFC Bank and ■ tamal.b@livemint.com IOB 733
ICICI Bank. AXIS BANK 747

I
Allahabad Bank 726
The first Hindustan score of 780. But consumers in CICI Bank, India’s largest private 722
United Bank
Times— MaRS Consumer Bhubaneswar are the most satisfied HDFC Bank 742 sector lender, has recently with-
Satisfaction Survey on Banking, which overall. Orissa’s capital has the high- drawn its free lifetime credit card Corpn Bank 714
covered 9,486 respondents across 18 est index score of 812. scheme, signaling a new phase in Canara Bank 713
Indian cities, threw up this and sever- Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Delhi are
ICICI Bank 740 consumer banking in the world’s sec- Bank of Baroda 706
al other interesting findings. The sur- other cities with high levels of satis- Indian Bank 738 ond-fastest growing economy. Bank of India 692
vey did not cover foreign banks. faction. This speaks as much of these Till the collapse of US investment
Dena Bank 686
Though no public sector bank has cities as of the banks rated. One rea- Indian bank Lehman Brothers in September
ranked among the three best banks son could be that north Indians are Overseas Bank 733 2008, salaried people in the metros had Syndicate Bank 682
overall, consumers in 14 cities ranked more demanding customers than oth- State Bank as many credit cards in their wallets UCO Bank 671
various state-owned banks as the best. ers and much more vocal about voic- of India 733 as they wanted and did not need to pay
Indian Bank emerged the top-ranked ing their opinions. This may have forced any fees for most of them.
public sector bank, with an overall rank banks to provide better services. Canara Bank 733 ICICI Bank joined the game in 2005
TURNAROUND TIME AT BANKS
of fourth. State Bank of India, the 800- It is also, perhaps, no coincidence and soon overtook Citibank, the then
pound gorilla in the banking sector, that Kolkata, Hyderabad and Punjab market leader. But the aggression took
728 Indian Bank 745
National Bank
was a step behind, sharing the joint Ahmedabad appear to be cities with its toll. As consumers lost jobs and faced UCO Bank 734
fifth place with Indian Overseas Bank. much lower satisfaction levels. Union Bank of
726 salary cuts, payment defaults pushed HDFC Bank 734
Says Raghu Roy, managing direc- Consumers in Patna, which has an India up the industry’s stressed assets.
Canara Bank 731
tor, MaRS, HT’s knowledge partner index score of 617, however, are the As interest rates dropped and the
for this survey: “Private banks have least satisfied. UCO Bank 726 financial system was awash with liq- ICICI Bank 728
done well. But as you can see, they are The survey also indicates that the Central Bank uidity early this century, banks sold IOB 724
not the No. 1 in most places. Overall, quality of service at public sector banks of India
722 mortgages, auto and personal loans, SBI 716
they score for being consistent. Clearly, vary widely from city to city, while their throwing due diligence to the wind.
they maintain a minimum standard private sector rivals largely gave cus-
Bank of Baroda 715 With India Inc. finding other avenues
Central Bank 712
and have a low dispersion index on cus- tomers much more homogenous qual- to raise money, banks were saddled PNB 710
Syndicate Bank 715 707
tomer satisfaction.” ity standards. with funds that they needed to deploy. Union Bank
Urban Indians gave banks an aver- “The study shows that public sec- Vijaya Bank 713 In a mad scramble to win new cus- Bank of Baroda 707
age index score of 727 out of a maxi- tor banks can deliver on customer sat- tomers, there were ‘mis-selling’ and Bank of India 699
mum possible 1,000. Though it is dif- isfaction. They have beaten their pri- Allahabad Bank 709 ‘mis-pricing’. Since credentials of con- Syndicate Bank 699
ficult to interpret this figure in the vate sector counterparts in most cities. Oriental Bank sumers were not always checked, urban
absence of any comparable previous If only they can raise their minimum of Commerce 708 consumers started overstretching Allahabad Bank 694
figure (this being the first survey), it standards, they will give private banks themselves — buying cars, houses, hol- OBC 689
does seem to indicate that customers a run for their money,” says Roy. Bank of India 707 idays, white goods and shares — and Axis Bank 685
are far from satisfied with the servic- Interestingly, there are no private repaying in equated monthly install- Vijaya Bank 680
Corporation
es provided by their bankers. banks among the top 10 in Lucknow. Bank
702 ments. When the slowdown claimed Corpn Bank 678
The survey showed that 38 per cent, This, and the fact that public sector jobs, they just stopped repaying.
or almost two-fifth, of consumers would banks topped satisfaction levels in 14 Dena Bank 698 It was a time bomb waiting to United Bank 676
happily change their bank. And yes, of the 18 cities, indicates that large sec- explode. And the fuse went off when Dena Bank 672
they would not recommend their bank tions of the middle class, even in met- United Bank Lehman Brothers collapsed.
of India 691
to friends and relatives. That’s as telling ros — but especially in the smaller While banks piled up bad assets,
a comment on satisfaction levels as cities — still prefer government-owned 9,486 respondents across 18 cities many non-banking finance companies ATM USERS
any. banks, despite their shabby image and were either forced to shut shop or go
Among the larger cities, Bangalore often indifferent service standards. slow on customer acquisition, and wait SBI 749
has the most satisfied bank customers, It also shows that no individual bank for buyers. HDFC Bank 748
who gave banks in the city a high index really commands customer loyalty Now, with the economy back on the ICICI Bank 742
across the length and breadth of the rails, consumer lending has resumed, PNB 733
SURVEY SUMMARY country.
That should give private sector
but with caution. This also coincides
with a few new credit information
Axis Bank 730
Indian Bank 724
■ Axis Bank has been rated India’s best banks some food for thought. bureaus — a repository of information
bank, ahead of more famous and in- about the credit history of borrowers. Bank of India 721
the-news rivals like HDFC Bank and For the retail consumer, there is vir- United Bank 721
ICICI Bank. OTHER STORIES tually no credit rating system. Canara Bank 720
■ Indian Bank emerged the top-ranked PAGE 28 But things will change soon. With the OBC 719
public sector bank. AXIS BANK: The Axis of excellence introduction of credit scores for
customers, banks will decide on their IOB 711
■ Urban Indians gave banks a relatively
HDFC BANK: HDFC Bank builds on creditworthiness. The new bureaus will Allahabad Bank 709
low index score of 727 out of a maxi-
consistency join Credit Information Bureau (India) UCO Bank 706
mum possible 1,000.
■ Bangalore has the most satisfied ICICI BANK: The pioneer that created Ltd (Cibil), which has been operating Central Bank 700
bank customers, who gave banks in the and rode the retail boom since 2004. Vijaya Bank 700
city a high index score of 780. PAGE 29 The second wave of consumer bank-
ing will be a win-win situation for both Bank of Baroda 698
■ Patna, with an index score of 617, is INDIAN BANK: Back from the dead...
the least satisfied city. consumers and banks. Worthy Corpn Bank 697
and how
■ There are no private banks among the customers will be able to access cheap Union Bank 691
SBI BANK: The elephant learns to
top 10 in Lucknow. credit and wiser with experience, Dena Bank 689
dance
banks will stop wooing the not-so-wor- Syndicate Bank 680
thy ones.
Graphics: SANJAY KAPOOR
 business | 17
H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I
M O N DAY, M A R C H 2 9 , 2 0 1 0 |
India’s best
banks User'sChoice
The Axis of excellence
CITY-WISE RANKINGS INTERVIEW
No bank is a clear leader across the
country. Individual cities seem to have
MANJU SRIVATSA
their own preferences.
‘Customers
DELHI Score
PNB 801 TURNAROUND Axis Bank has established its new identity in just three years recognise we
ICICI Bank
HDFC Bank
794
789
are trying to
Sandeep Singh
Central Bank
Indian Bank
783
779
■ sandeep.singh1@hindustantimes.com
improve’

A
Axis Bank 777 xis Bank is India’s best bank. Manju Srivatsa, president, retail
Canara Bank 775 It edged out larger and high- banking, at Axis Bank, spoke to
Punjab &
773 er profile rivals such as HDFC Hindustan Times on the bank’s focus
Sind Bank Bank and ICICI Bank — by on customer satisfaction and how
State Bank 772 very small margins. it plans to improve going forward.
of India
“The ambience in Axis Bank branch-
State Bank 767 es is cool and there is a lot of space,” Axis Bank has been ranked India’s
of Patiala
says Sani Rajan, a senior public rela- best bank. How did you achieve this?
tions executive in Mumbai and an Axis Traditionally,
Bank customer for more than four Axis Bank has
MUMBAI years. been very strong-
Indian Bank 752 Earlier known as UTI Bank, its exec- ly focused on cus-
Bank of Baroda 751 utives and customers credit the 2007 tomer satisfac-
Axis Bank 749
rebranding, last year’s change in man- tion. We have
IOB agement and a renewed focus on cus- maintained a
747
tomer service for the success. high level of trust,
UCO Bank 746
Rajan also likes the bank’s new-found service delivery
PNB 745 accessibility. and transparen-
ICICI Bank 740 “The bank has branches and ATMs cy. We also take
HDFC Bank in all prominent places. Ever since it feedback from
739
Bank of changed its name from UTI to Axis customers and
Maharashtra 737 Bank, I have seen a marked change in take action based
SBI 736 service quality.” on the feedback
The bank was among the first to received. Our
launch operations when the govern- ■ Clients are most satisfied with Axis Bank’s staff and overall facilities offered at its branches. RAJ K RAJ/HT PHOTO customers recognise that and when-
KOLKATA ment allowed new private banks to be ever we see a scope for improve-
established in the early 1990s. But ing allotment lottery of the Delhi “I do not know what turnaround time ment we try to address it.
Axis Bank 716 aggressive competitors such as ICICI Development Authority in 2008 as loan the customer is talking about,” says NEW NAME, NEW FAME
SBI 704 Bank and HDFC Bank soon raced far to anyone on a payment of just around Manju Srivatsa, president, retail bank- ATMs have emerged as the main
HDFC Bank 704 ahead. Rs 5,500. ing at Axis Bank. But she adds: “This ■ Axis Bank has been ranked best bank touch point with customers. Your
Central Bank 700 The Hindustan Times-MaRS survey A change of guard at the top – Shikha will be very empowering for me to know in three cities — Kolkata, Guwahati and bank is ranked No. 5. How do you
ICICI Bank 691 of 9,486 respondents from 18 cities Sharma took over as managing direc- and to address it.” Bangalore. plan to improve this?
■ It ranks among the top 5 banks in six
UCO Bank 689 assessed customer satisfaction on tor in April 2009 — only reinforced Axis The areas it needs to improve in are ATMs are a very strong point of
Indian Bank aspects such as staff experience, branch Bank’s ‘client focus’. clear. cities. service delivery and we will focus
689 ■ Axis Bank ranks No. 1 in “overall
Union Bank 686 facilities, automated teller machine The changes seem to have worked. It ranks fifth in terms of satisfaction more on them. Our entire business
(ATM) facilities and account opening According to the survey, clients are with ATM services. State Bank of India experience with bank staff”, “overall model is to support all our branch-
IOB 676
process, among others. most satisfied with Axis Bank’s staff, and HDFC Bank are the two highest- branch facilities” and “experience with es with ATMs.
Dena Bank 666 bank account statements”.
Three years ago, the then UTI Bank overall facilities offered at its branch- ranked banks on this parameter.
■ In turnaround time, it ranks a poor
sought to leave its past behind by chang- es and the provision of account state- Bangalore customers are most sat- There is an inconsistency in the sat-
ing its name and turning its focus to ments. The bank ranks second in cus- isfied with Axis Bank, and those in 16th out of 20 banks, the lowest rank isfaction levels of customers geo-
building better relations with clients tomer satisfaction with its account open- Kolkata and Mumbai rank it second on any parameter by a bank ranked graphically. Why?
CHENNAI and reaching out to areas where bank- ing process. and third respectively. But it ranks a overall in the top 5. We are standardised in our service
PNB 791 ■ Though it was ranked No. 1 in
Vijaya Bank 790 ing services were still limited. But it still lags behind in terms of poor sixth in Delhi. delivery procedures. But because
For instance, it offered to pay the turnaround time, or processing time Obviously, it will have to address these Kolkata, it had better scores in Delhi, customer satisfaction is a lot about
Union Bank 788 Mumbai and Chennai among the met-
refundable Rs 1.5 lakh registration for the sanction of loans, and satisfac- lacunae if it wants to hang on to its rank- the overall experience at the bank,
Corpn Bank 784 money needed to participate in a hous- tion of ATM users. ing next year. ros. we will definitely address that.
SBT 782

The pioneer that

UCO Bank 781
HDFC Bank 781
ICICI Bank 774
Axis Bank
Lakshmi Vilas
772
668
HOW SATISFIED ARE INDIAN BANK CUSTOMERS?

created and rode

Bank Overall satisfaction levels across the country seem quite low. Even the all-
India average looks to be on the lower side.
Bhubaneswar 812
JAIPUR Bangalore 780

the retail boom

Syndicate Bank 757
Axis Bank 740 Chandigarh 775
ICICI Bank 723 Ludhiana 772
HDFC Bank 707
Bank of Baroda 706
Delhi 768
Bank of India 692 Indore 761
Bank of
Rajasthan
690 THINKING BIG ICICI Bank clocks in at No. 3 Guwahati Ludhiana Chandigarh 758
Delhi
SBBJ 689 Chennai 753
SBI 688
Sandeep Singh
■ sandeep.singh1@hindustantimes.com
ICICI BANK IN DEMAND Lucknow Jaipur Lucknow
Patna Guwahati 748
PNB 687

I
Ahmedabad Ranchi
■ ICICI Bank has been rated India’s
t’s the bank that arguably created third-best bank with an overall score of
Ranchi
Indore Raipur Kolkata 744
— and rode — the boom in retail 740, only a short distance behind Axis Raipur Mumbai Bhubaneswar 742
HYDERABAD banking in the country. It’s also Bank (747) and HDFC Bank (742). ALL INDIA Hyderabad
727
the bank that leveraged technolo- ■ It is the only bank to be ranked among
SBI 763
Indian Bank
gy and aggressive marketing to come the top 5 in eight cities — Delhi, Patna, Mumbai Bangalore
Chennai
714
756 from nowhere in the late 1990s and Ahmedabad and Ludhiana (ranked No.
ICICI Bank 741 early 2000s to clinch the crown of the
Jaipur 698
2), Hyderabad and Jaipur (No. 3), Cochin
HDFC Bank 739 largest private sector bank in India — Guwahati (No. 4) and Kolkata (No. 5). Cochin 692
Central Bank 737 and second-largest overall behind State ■ It has India’s second-largest network Kolkata 686
Canara Bank 724 Bank of India. of ATMs (about 4,900).
State Bank of
724 Look around… ask your colleagues… ■ ICICI Bank ranks No. 2 in parameters Hyderabad 684
Hyderabad chances are that a good percentage of such as “overall experience with bank
IOB 719 them have some ongoing relationship staff”, “overall branch facilities” and
Ahmedabad 642
Andhra Bank 716 with ICICI Bank — as an account hold- “experience with bank account state- Patna 617
Syndicate er, as a loan seeker, as a customer (of ments”.
Bank 702 home, auto or personal loans) or in GRAPHICS: SANJAY KAPOOR

HDFC Bank builds on consistency

some other capacity.
But ICICI Bank, ranked India’s third “I don’t remember the last I visited
best in the Hindustan Times-MaRS sur- a branch for my banking needs. I do
vey, is the only one among the top 5 most of the things online or through
CHANDIGARH banks not to have been ranked No. 1 in ATMs,” he says, adding: “I have faced
any of the 18 cities surveyed. no problem with the bank’s online serv-
Indian Bank
HDFC Bank
783
783 “The smaller the bank, the better is ice and the ATM facilities in the past STEADY SCORE
S.B. of Patiala 781
the service delivery,” says a financial
planner on condition of anonymity.
three years.”
ICICI Bank has 1,670 branches and India’s second-largest
PNB
Axis Bank
780
779
“While ICICI Bank has been very good
at acquiring new customers, it has
about 4,900 ATMs spread across the
country — the second largest ATM net-
private sector bank is
Punjab & Sind
Bank 779 lagged on the services delivery front.”
But consumers in four cities — Delhi,
work after State Bank of India.
The bank, however, went through
also the second best
ICICI Bank 777 Patna, Ahmedabad and Ludhiana — some tough times in 2008. There were Sandeep Singh
Canara Bank 767 did rank it at No. 2. And, it is the only rumours about its financial health. At ■ sandeep.singh1@hindustantimes.com

C
SBI 765 bank to have been ranked within the one time, the Reserve Bank of India
Vijaya Bank 764 top 3 in six different cities. had to assure the bank’s depositors that onsumers have ranked it India’s
This indicates a remarkable consis- the bank had enough liquidity. second best bank. HDFC Bank,
tency of performance It has since worked hard to restore the country’s second largest pri-
There’s a reason for this popularity. customer faith and confidence. Recently, vate sector bank, has emerged
BHUBANESWAR ICICI Bank was the first in India to it announced several major changes in just one rank below the pick of the pack,
introduce the concept of floating rate its retail banking group. Axis Bank, in overall customer satis-
Canara Bank 844 home loans, the first to roll out an exten- Chanda Kochhar, who took over as faction in the Hindustan Times-MaRS
SBI 834 sive, nationwide network of ATMs, managing director and CEO of ICICI survey of banks.
Bank of Baroda 829 among several other initiatives. Bank in 2009, is believed to be driving It scored consistently on all the
PNB 824 In that sense, ICICI Bank has been efforts to change its aggressive image parameters of customer satisfaction
United Bank 822 the pioneer of retail banking in India. to one of a caring bank. and also had consistent scores across
Varun Khandelwal, a Mumbai-based However, HT could not explore this most of the 18 cities surveyed.
IOB 819 marketing professional working in a aspect further as the management of “What I really like about HDFC Bank ■ With 1,725 branches and more than 4,000 ATMs, HDFC Bank has a good reach.
ICICI Bank 818 leading media house, is satisfied with ICICI Bank refused to comment on the is the helpful attitude of its staff. They DEEPAK HAZRA
UCO Bank 813 the bank’s online facilities. survey. aren’t pushy as in some other banks,
Andhra Bank 811 but they are just as effective,” says S. icantly over the past few years, espe- “After ICICI Bank, it was probably
Indian Bank
Shankar, a Kolkata-based chartered cially after acquiring Centurion Bank the second bank in the country to realise
811 accountant with a leading multinational of Punjab in 2008. The effects of the the importance of technology and
audit firm, who has dealings with sev- acquisition are reflected in its strong invested aggressively on this front,”
eral banks both in his personal and pro- presence in Punjab — top ranks in the says Shankar.
LUDHIANA fessional capacities. state capital Chandigarh, and major Then, it also has a richly deserved
But where it really scored high is in business centre Ludhiana. reputation as an ethical lender. “It does-
HDFC Bank 821 users’ satisfaction with its automated The bank’s consistency across the n’t send goons to recover money
ICICI Bank 808 teller machine (ATM) network. Though service delivery fronts and across geog- from defaulters,” says a Delhi-based
PNB 804 it has a smaller ATM network than its raphies puts it at the second place in financial planner who deals with sev-
Indian Bank 792 private sector rival ICICI Bank, it overall ratings. But its presence and per- eral banks.
Syndicate Bank 786 ranks higher in satisfaction levels. In formance in the capitals of not-so-devel- This gives customers a comfort that
Punjab & Sind fact, it ranked second, losing out by a oped states can be improved further. translates into long-term relationships
Bank
786 whisker — one point — to State Bank For instance, HDFC Bank’s per- and good referral business.
OBC 777 of India, which occupies the top slot on formance in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, There is very little separating HDFC
State Bank of this count. Bhubaneswar in Orissa, Ranchi in Bank from the leaders on the individ-
Patiala 776 With 1,725 branches across 771 cities Jharkhand and Raipur in Chhattisgarh ual parameters surveyed. Can it
Bank of India 767 and a network of over 4,000 ATMs, the is not too impressive. It could not score leapfrog ahead of the competition?
Bank of bank has a good reach. enough to be among the top 10 banks The next Hindustan Times-MaRS
Rajasthan 766 HDFC Bank spread its wings signif- in these cities. survey will tell.
18 | business | H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I
M O N DAY, M A R C H 2 9 , 2 0 1 0

User'sChoice
India’s best
banks

Back from the dead… and how

CITY-WISE RANKINGS
Still a PSU, No bank is a clear leader across the
country. Individual cities seem to have
through and their own preferences.

REVIVAL STRATEGY INTEREST IN INDIAN BANK through BANGALORE Score

Aggressive marketing ■ It ranked first among public sector

banks and fourth overall
Avijit Ghosal
Axis Bank
Bank of India
827
824

and smart policies have ■ Consumers in Mumbai, India’s

■ avijit.ghosal@hindustantimes.com IOB
Union Bank
805
802

S
financial capital, ranked it as the ajid Mohammad (name
contributed to Indian country’s best bank.
■ There are massive variations in its
changed) had an open-
heart surgery in April 2009.
HDFC Bank
ICICI Bank
797
794

Bank’s turnaround service quality across the country. As

many as seven of 18 cities do not
He has been spending every
afternoon for the past 10 days
Canara Bank
Indian Bank
Syndicate Bank
794
787
Mahua Venkatesh rank it among the top 10 at the United Bank of India’s 786
Free School Street Branch in Karnataka Bank 784
■ mahua.venkatesh@hindustantimes.com ■ Indian Bank has the best turn-

S
mart policies, and a leg up from
the government, have seen
Indian Bank transform itself
from a loss-making venture to
a profit-making enterprise within a span
of eight years. It is now all set to aggres-
sively expand its presence nationwide.
And here’s the icing on the cake: cus-
tomers across 18 cities have ranked the
bank No. 1 among state-owned banks
and fourth overall It pipped its more
illustrious peers — including the coun-
try’s largest bank, State Bank of India
— to the post, according to the
Hindustan Times— MaRS Survey on
Consumer Satisfaction in Banking.
Even better, it is within striking dis-
tance of the three private sector rivals
who are ahead.
The Chennai-based bank, which was
saddled with accumulated losses of Rs
3,849.62 crore as on March 31, 2002,
posted a net profit of Rs 1,245.32 crore
in 2008-09.
The remarkable turnaround was
scripted by smart policies, aggressive
marketing strategy and government
handholding.
In a huge vote of confidence, con-
INTERVIEW
M.S. SUNDARA RAJAN
‘We are connecting
well with customers’
■ Indian Bank ranks sixth in ATMs, the most popular point of contact for cus-
tomers with their banks.
sumers in Mumbai, India’s financial
capital, have rated it the country’s best
bank. Consumers in Chandigarh also
feel the same way. And six cities have
ranked it among the top 5.
Indian Bank currently has a branch
network of 1,700, of which 60 per cent
is in southern India. But realising the
importance of a pan-India presence,
the bank reinvented its image and posi-
tioned itself as a bank for the entire
country and has largely succeeded in
around time among all banks. Kolkata.
■ It needs to improve its account
Mohammad, a computer deal-
er in the same locality, has sev-
statements; it ranks 10 on this score.
eral fixed deposit certificates AHMEDABAD
with the bank and needs an Bank of Baroda 683
interest accrued certificate to ICICI Bank 678
marketing strategy to connect with con- file his income tax returns. The SBI 667
sumers. And it seems to be succeeding deadline is March 31, 2010. He Canara Bank 662
in its efforts. is yet to get it after 11 visits and
OBC 660
“I’m very happy with Indian Bank,” more than 30 hours at the
says Sandeep Ahluwalia, who runs branch. Central Bank 659
Delhi-based event management com- Mohammad’s experience rep- Bank of 652
Maharashtra
pany Ideas Unlimited. “Its staff is very resents what’s wrong with UBI.
HDFC Bank 646
customer-oriented, and it has a quick No wonder the bank doesn’t fea-
turnaround time.” ture in the top 10 in any of the Vijaya Bank 645
Rajan also says the bank is looking metros, including its headquar- Bank of India 643
KUNAL PATIL/HT PHOTO at a deposit growth of 17 per cent and ters Kolkata.
a credit of 20 per cent for 2010-11. “We “Some days their computers
shedding its image of a south Indian have been very proactive in our efforts don’t work, on others, some LUCKNOW
bank. and have come a long way from where employee hasn’t come. On yet
“We want to add more branches to we were,” he adds. others, when both are in place, SBI 784
give ourselves a pan-India presence,” But there are still some areas where they are busy with sundry cus- Allahabad
782
M.S. Sundara Rajan, chairman and it needs to get its act together. It ranks tomers,” says Mohammad, who Bank
managing director of the bank, tells a lowly 10th in “experience with bank has remained loyal to the bank Canara Bank 778
Hindustan Times. account statements” and sixth in ATMs, for more than three decades. OBC 771
It has added 100 branches this year, the most popular point of contact for Poor performance in the util- United Bank 771
and hopes to add another 100 in the customers with their banks. isation of technology and a lack- Union Bank 765
next. It also has branches in Singapore The management is aware of these adaisical work culture (last posi- PNB 762
and Colombo. shortcomings. Can it address them? tion in overall experience) mark Bank of India 758
The bank also adopted belligerent Wait for next year’s survey to find out. frequent customer complaints.
IOB 752
“UBI doesn’t perform well on
parameters like return on net Central Bank 748
worth, return on assets, non-
We have managed to stay ahead of performing assets, cost of
the competition. We have seen deposit
and credit growth higher than the
deposits, business and profit per
employee in its peer group,” says PATNA
industry average and that has been Rajesh Agarwal, director, CD
Punjab &
encouraging. We hope to achieve 17 Equisearch, a three decade-old Sind Bank 657
per cent growth in deposits and 20 Kolkata-based equity research ICICI Bank 654
per cent in credit.

What initiatives have you taken to

M.S. Sundara Rajan, chairman and
managing director, Indian Bank, has
reasons to cheer. Indian Bank, which
had almost been written off as dead
10 years ago, has turned around and
is today the country’s favourite pub-
lic sector bank. Rajan spoke to HT’s
Mahua Venkatesh on how the bank
turned around and its future.
Excerpts:
firm.
It doesn’t offer tele-banking
or net banking services.
PNB
Bank of Baroda
648
643
IOB 635
Indian Bank has been ranked the best expand the scope of financial inclu- The management refused to Canara Bank 618
public sector bank in the country? sion? speak to Hindustan Times for
What has changed over the last few It should be our social responsi- this report. Syndicate Bank 616
years for customers to choose your bility to give as much as possible to Its advertisement claims: Bank of India 614
bank over others? our farmers. We have engaged rural “The bank that begins with U.” Indian Bank 613
We have tried to aggressively con- development officers and agricultur- “Hardly,” say bitter con- United Bank 613
nect with the customers. Besides, we to have a pan-Indian presence and we al experts to provide counselling to sumers like Mohammad.
have also tried to position ourselves have successfully done that. farmers. There should be a mecha- At least one bank, it seems,
as a bank that is not there only to serve nism of joint liability and thereby bring hasn’t changed its public sector
the customers in the south but the What kind of business growth have in those who are outside the banking mindset — yet…. despite its Rs GUWAHATI
whole of India. It was critical for us you seen over the last couple of years? net into the fold. 330-crore IPO recently. Axis Bank 812
Bank of Baroda 782
Union Bank 777

The elephant learns to dance How we did it

UCO Bank 758
ICICI Bank 758
HDFC Bank 755
SBI 752
PNB 739
735

T
Indian Bank

PUBLIC PUSH State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, is only a he Hindustan Times-MaRS
Survey on India’s Best Banks
In the major metros, such as
Mumbai and Delhi, very high income
Central Bank 733

short distance behind the leaders in the pack.
Avijit Ghosal
■ avijit.ghosal@hindustantimes.com
was carried out in 18 major
state capitals and business
localities such as some areas in South
Mumbai or South Delhi were exclud- COCHIN
centres across India. ed from sampling frame. All slums
Mumbai and Bangalore — and in of the books of its private sector rivals. For the purposes of sampling, each and similar localities were also Corpn Bank 741
Chennai. It set up dedicated retail branches, city or town was divided into sam- excluded in all sample towns. Also, Federal Bank 733

“W
In Kolkata, SBI comes in at joint sec- changed the disheveled public sector pling zones. These ranged from five account holders of multinational Indian Bank 717
hy don’t you invest in ond (with HDFC Bank), behind Axis look at these branches, began one-stop to 30 depending on the city. banks were not included. Catholic Syrian
our mutual funds? Bank, but turns the tables in banking (where customers did not have Each sampling zone was allocat- The universe of the study, there- Bank 714
They are giving good Hyderabad, where it is the clear No. 1. to go to five different counters to get ed a number of starting points. From fore, was by design restricted to mid- Dhanlakshmi 707
returns.” “They (private banks) brought more work done) and expanded its network each starting point, up to six house- dle class urban Indians. Bank
Don’t be surprised if you hear this gen- products to the market, introduced the of ATMs at a furious pace. holds were selected and interviewed, Also, the findings were not SBI 703
tle voice even before you step inside latest technology and weaned away the SBI’s sheer size and its access to using random start and systematic analysed by income or socio eco- ICICI Bank 699
the Kasba branch (south Kolkata) of urban segment that had a lot of money cheap resources also came to its sampling. The sampling, survey and nomic classes. To a banker, all cus- South Indian
the State Bank of India. in their pockets but little time to spend defence. analysis was carried out by MaRS, tomers must be equal and that was Bank 697
For customers at this branch, the in a bank,” says Ranjan Das, professor “SBI handles most government our knowledge partner for this ini- how we approached our analysis of HDFC Bank 689
frail Gobinda Naskar, who stands guard of strategic management, IIM-C. accounts, pensions and public provi- tiative. findings. Axis Bank 687
at the front door with a heavy double Apart from the new generation cus- dent fund accounts. As a result, the con-
barrel gun, is also its first marketing tomers, large and mid-sized companies stant flow of funds was almost guar-
face. also started moving away. anteed,” says Rajesh Agarwal, director, HT’s knowledge partner MaRS interviewed 9,486 account holders
Om Prakash Bhatt, SBI’s feisty chair- The 800-pound gorilla in India’s CD Equisearch, an equity research firm. across 18 state capitals and business centres across India.
INDORE
man since 2006, may not know Naskar, banking space was obviously punch- A bank, designed to function like a IOB 831
but he personifies all the attributes ing below its class. socialistic welfare organisation after Syndicate Bank 808
Bhatt wants to infuse in his 200,000 But getting its act together was a Independence, was morphing into a Mumbai Delhi Ahmedabad Kolkata Hyderabad Jaipur Punjab & Sind
employees in his unfinished quest to challenge. To overcome the technolo- market entity. Maharashtra Gujarat West Bengal Andhra Pradesh Rajasthan Bank 791
retain SBI’s preeminent position in gy handicap, SBI got IT major Tata And that is what Bhatt, who has SBI 772
Indian banking, and a place among the Consultancy Services to create the spent 38 years with SBI, has been doing Bank of India 766
top 20 banks in the world. world’s largest core banking solution for the past five years. 1,047 968 817 794 Axis Bank 766
It’s a search that was thrust upon with 11,888 offices on a single platform. And it’s showing in the Hindustan 672 608
State Bank of
SBI in the post-reforms era. Transformation came at a faster pace Times-MaRS rankings. Indore 766
In an interview to the McKinsey in its backroom than at the front desk. SBI has been ranked joint second Chennai Bangalore Lucknow Ludhiana Patna Cochin
UCO Bank 765
Quarterly (Q3, ’09), Bhatt admitted that But SBI did learn to dance — and devel- among public sector banks, joint fifth Tamil Nadu Karnataka Uttar Pradesh Punjab Bihar Kerala
SBI’s market share had dipped from op a customer focus. overall. Given its size and the difficul- Canara Bank 759
PNB 755
35 per cent in early ’70s to about 15 per It began by taking several leaves out ty of transforming large organisations, 576 502 491 472 472 447
cent now. that is very creditable.
From the mid-1990s, upstart private It is the favourite among ATM users Bhubaneswar Indore Guwahati Chandigarh Ranchi Raipur
sector rivals such as ICICI Bank and and easily outscores its private sector Orissa Madhya Pradesh Assam Union Territory Jharkhand Chhattisgarh
RAIPUR
HDFC Bank, which were technology- rivals on this count, but ranks between 370 322 261 253 225 189
savvy and carried no public sector lega- five and seven on other parameters Canara Bank 782
cy, began nipping at its heels and then (see SBI: The Fine Print). State Bank of
768
overtook it on most parameters of cus- Clearly, there’s a lot that’s right with Indore
tomer satisfaction. India’s largest bank. The areas where Bank of Baroda 765
The Hindustan Times-MaRS survey it needs to improve are also clear. And Customer satisfaction was measured using 22 parameters grouped
into five main criteria. Union Bank 762
shows that private sector rivals Axis given Bhatt’s success at transforma- 760
UCO Bank
Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank tion management so far, only a very The main criteria and the parameters used were:
are ahead of SBI in customer satis- rash punter would wager against him Allahabad Bank 741
faction in India’s three most impor- setting these right in the foreseeable ■Account opening: Ease of waiting area, stock of stationary and Dena Bank 734
tant commercial centres — Delhi, future. account opening (the amount of forms, availability of water and rest PNB 733
paperwork involved), friendly and rooms in the branch, branch banking Central Bank 723
HEMANT PADALKAR/HT PHOTO courteous guidance, transparency in hours, response time to queries
SBI 721
■ SBI is the favourite declaring applicable fees and ■ Turnaround time: Time taken
among ATM users. charges, time taken for the account during a typical branch visit, queue
opening process at counters and waiting period
■ Bank staff: Staff availability, ■ Bank account statements: RANCHI
friendly and courteous behaviour, Regular and timely updation, timely Union Bank 805
knowledge of bank’s products and and hassle-free delivery, accurate UCO Bank 804
services, willingness to listen and and error-free statements and Bank of Baroda
respond to your needs, fast and effi- 803
prompt response to queries
cient service, recognition of you as United Bank 784
■ Overall satisfaction ratings were
valued customer, professional and PNB 765
attractive appearance of executives derived by aggregating the scores
Canara Bank 754
manning the desks on each criteria after suitably
weighting them. Bank of India 749
■Branch facilities: Clean and well- Central Bank 728
kept facilities, pleasant & attractive The study team was led by Gaurav
Panakel (gaurav@marspvt.net). SBI 710
décor, seating availability in the
Allahabad Bank 709