India & Net Banking
..Nearer home, ICICI Bank, Citibank and HDFC Bank, to name a few, also offer net banking to their customers. Let's take a look at the major players in the Indian market and what they have to offer.
ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank's website (www.icici.com) hosts a very user-friendly net banking service - Infinity - with detailed explanations of all relevant terms (as pop-ups) provided on the site and on-line registration of accounts permitted. The service includes a demo to take first-time users through the various offerings and also tries to address security concerns of skeptics by explaining the technology used in Infinity.
A unique feature of this site is a customisable news channel that provides news on personal finance, e-commerce, information technology, etc. Also noteworthy are its highly readable FAQ pages and the option to "download account details in text format".
HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank's website (www.hdfcbank.com) also sports a feature-rich net banking service that brings most of the bank's services to its clients in an easy-to-use manner. The site also features two versions of a demo facility - one "interactive" and the other "guided" - making it possible for even Internet illiterates to get comfortable with its services.
On the downside, however, 'registration' for the service involves downloading of a form that needs to be posted/delivered to any of its branches - not exactly "web savvy" as we would call it. Also, the form itself requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to be installed and the file size will exceed 5.5 MB, which translates roughly into an hour or more of on-line time. Its 3-question FAQ page also assumes a high level of computer knowledge from users ... not consistent with the rest of the website.
Global Trust Bank
This bank's net banking service (www.globaltrustbank.com) seems to revolve around a "ibank@gtb" caption with very little information for beginners to utilise the services offered. Account holders are instructed to download an application form and submit it at the branch where they hold the account.
There is no mention of the fact that the form is a PDF document (requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader), nor of the file size or how long it will take to download it. In fact, even on the website, you will not be able to see the net banking link unless you scroll down to the second screen! The website does mention most of the services that others in the field are offering on the Net, but we can only guess how they would compare with the services offered by their counterparts.
Citibank
I had an even tougher time locating the net banking link on Citibank's website (www.citibank.com) and I sympathise, in advance, with those of you who wish to explore this one.
When you do find it, however, you find that you can do a lot with it, including some services targeted at Citibank's credit card holders. The site does not have any demo and assumes users to be fairly comfortable with technology and the Internet.
IndusInd Bank
IndusInd's website (www.indusind.com) is another example of a badly designed net banking offering that could be made much more customer-friendly. However, it does feature a "net demo" to help its clients get a feel of the services on offer.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned five banks represent a small percentage of the banking sector in India and range from very well-designed offerings to sketchy beginnings. But today's technology is making it possible for even computer illiterates to access their accounts from their home PCs, and there's no telling what that will mean for banking and for the personal finance industry as a whole.
Tomorrow's banks may very well be devoid of a physical entity, and may comprise only ATMs and web-based services, facilitated by terrestrial or satellite links. And, as more and more customers become used to anytime, anywhere, anyhow banking, there is no denying that net banking will be the face of things to come.
-DomainB |
