Icici Bank To Offer B2b Payment Gateway Solutions

ICICI Bank Ltd, which has begun offering Internet-based business-to-business (B2B) solutions for closed-user groups for its corporate customers, will offer B2B open payment gateway solutions soon to facilitate future customer acquisition.

The bank is also in negotiation with several cellular operators in major cities to introduce mobile banking to its customers.

A deal on this has already been inked with Orange, the Mumbai cellular operator, and with Airtel, in New Delhi.

This is part of the bank's vision and strategy for the new fiscal, and a part of its gameplan to provide a cutting technological edge to woo new clients.

 

ICICI Bank has also started offering capital market services during 1999-2000.

According to the bank's vision, its "clicks and bricks" strategy, which is a convergence between the physical and the virtual, can create enormous value in the times to come.

The bank says its endeavour has been to leverage the power of the Internet to generate revenues on the one hand and drive down transaction costs on the other, while at the same time maintaining a high level of customer service.

At the same time, it says it has concentrated on the rapid growth of physical delivery channels and branch network.

On corporate banking, a major thrust area for the bank, the corporate banking division works closely with the major clients group (MCG) and growth clients group (GCG) of ICICI group to cross-sell a broad range of wholesale financial products.

The bank has leveraged on the strong corporate relationships being enjoyed by ICICI to forge relationships with a number of the country's leading corporates. As on March 31, 2000, the bank had 25 branches offering corporate banking services.

Consistent with the ICICI group's strategy of consolidating its position as the leading provider of financial solutions, the bank has launched "corporate infinity" _ an Internet banking service for corporates _ in August 1999 to deliver a complete range of high quality financial services to corporate customers at their offices.

The bank has also launched "i-payments", a web-based online supply chain management solution during the fiscal.

This product, according to the bank, has gained acceptability and the bank has already signed memoranda of understanding with over 100 large corporates for the purpose.

ICICI Bank's mobile banking thrust involves allowing a facility where customers common to both the organisations can track their personal finances through their mobile phones.