I opened an acct with ICICI as they offered a free International Debit card, had ATM service in major cities & their branches were nice. Our problems started about 6 months after that. I am a NRI, so I guess I got preferential treatment but all that fell to pieces soon.

On the application I made clear that my wife would be able to sign the cheques too, though she can’t be a joint acct holder as she is not a NRI.

She landed there with a cheque she signed (I was in china then). The teller says,’ sorry, you can’t operate this acct’. My wife explained, to the discomfort of the other people waiting in the now long queue but the teller forwards her to another madam.

The madam verified the application form & approved. So the wife stood in the queue. At the counter, ’sorry, there is not enough money.’

Embarrassed that everyone there thinks she has no money in her acct, she pulls out the receipt of the last draft I had put into the acct over a month ago and heads for the manager’s cabin. ’How long does it take you to handle US$ drafts?’

’Max 3 weeks’ he said. She handed him the receipt for the last draft I had presented over 5 weeks ago. (for your information SBI takes 2 weeks) He does his math, initials it and asks the teller to promptly hand the money.

At ICICI Cochin, the front desk staff don’t have a clue. You ask them anything & they forward you from one person to next madam and so on. The manager there called it ’a teething problem’. Since then the acct has a minimum balance.

Their ATM/debit card works fine. Never had a problem. However, I am going to give them one more chance. I hope in the six months since, the manager’s teething problems are over or he has got himself a fresh set of teeth. Will have to wait and see....

How long have you been with this Bank?

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