Jun 23, 2013 10:37 PM
22521 Views
I had a ICICI Wealth Account(now closed it) in Bangalore. It is supposedly a premium product for HNI customers - they have RMs and Investment Advisors who are supposed to give you sound advice on the proper management of your money in order to generate decent returns. This is as per the glossy brochures. However, the reality is completely different. Apart from the black colour scheme, there is no difference between a wealth and an ordinary savings account at this lousy bank.
To begin with, you are assigned a dedicated RM to take care of your every banking need. However, far from providing good service, the RMs and IA keep badgering you to buy ICICI Prudential's rubbish, low return, worthless, policies with ridiculously high premiums. They keep calling at all odd hours, even coming home unannounced in the guise of a routine introductory visit, trying to push their insurance policies, even if you explicitly tell them you do not want it.
Another product they keep pushing you to buy is their high end credit cards, with ridiculously high annual fees and charges(Rs. 25, 000/-), again touted as a high end product. In spite of such high annual fees and supposedly a premium product for HNI's the limit offered is in the range of 2.5 - 3 lakhs, which honestly, is peanuts. I hold a credit card with another bank, with a limit of 7 lakhs, with no annual fees/charges.
I faced issues regarding a fund transfer to another account of mine in another bank. The RM & Branch Manager were completely clueless. In sheer frustration, I went to their regional office on Commissariat Road(next to Bangalore Central Mall) to meet the so-called head of Wealth Management for Bangalore - one Ahmed Zackaria(Mob. No. 9880499003). To my complete surprise, he was busy doing nothing other than reading a copy of Autocar India magazine in his plush office, that too on a busy Monday! My surprise not withstanding, I spoke to him about my problem, and the inability of the RM & BM to sort it out and requested his intervention. He spent a few minutes talking on the phone to various people(presumably in the branch/IT department) and gave me a vague assurance that he would fix it.
For the next 20 minutes, he made me sit in his office, while he gave a long sales pitch and lecture on a health insurance policy from ICICI Lombard. He even had the audacity to check my account balance on his computer and tell me "You have Rs. X in your account right now, this policy premium is Rs. Y, you can very well afford this". At this point, I was so angry that I almost wanted to slap him, seniority not withstanding. He only hastened my decision to close all my accounts with ICICI and never touch any of their products / group companies.
If you hold a Wealth Account with ICICI, my sincere advice would be to close it and bank with either HDFC or SBI - their service levels are far, far better by any scale.
