07th July 2008 was a historic date for ICICI Bank as it made a variety of changes to accommodate technology into banking. The bank launched a pure online account where deposits above Rs. 5,000 are automatically swept into a term deposit scheme with interest rates in the region of 8-8.5%.

The bank also launched its cardless cash transfer initiative, which allows customers of the bank to transfer funds to anyone in the country having a mobile phone.

Once opened, the account will be accessible only through a separate internet banking portal, which the bank has decided to call b2. The account holder would not be provided with a chequebook or a debit card, but he will be able to carry out a number of transactions like bill payments, fund transfers and mobile recharges.

Another advantage of this account is that customers will be able to link the ICICI account to their accounts in other banks. They can also transfer funds electronically. In addition to this, they will also be able to procure personal loans and virtual credit cards through the portal, said ICICI Bank executive director V Vaidyanathan.

However, this cardless cash transfer initiative is not a new thing in the market. A few months ago, Standard Chartered Bank had started a similar initiative. Through this, a customer of the bank can transfer funds up to Rs. 10,000 from his internet banking account to any person who has a mobile phone.

Talking about the procedure, Mr. Vaidyanathan said that, on validating the sender’s account, the bank sends the recipient a text message which contains a unique code that is valid for 24 hours. The recipient needs to go to an ICICI Bank ATM within the 24 hours, enter the code and withdraw the cash.

Mr Vaidyanathan feels that the bank will make considerable savings by having their customers use direct channels like internet and ATMs, which is what, enabled them to offer the automatic sweeping facility to the FD. The bank calls this the quantum optima facility.

With 24% of its transactions being carried out online, internet banking forms the second-most popular transaction channel of ICICI Bank. The maximum transactions are done through ATMs.

Mr. Vaidyanathan also said that all other features of the b2 account will essentially be on the lines of the bank’s existing internet banking offering. ICICI Bank offers similar facilities to its clients in the UK, Canada and Germany. “We have close to 2 lakh customers who have parked up to $5.3 billion in this particular account in the countries that we have launched it in internationally,” said Mr Vaidyanathan.