The 

Marketing mix is a set of four decisions which needs to be taken

before launching any new product. These variables are also known as the 4
P’s of marketing. These four variables help the firm in making strategic
decisions necessary for the smooth running of any product /
organization.These variables are
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotions
Marketing mix is mainly of two types.
1) Product marketing mix –  Comprised of Product, price, place and
promotions. This marketing mix is mainly used in case of Tangible goods.
2) Service marketing mix –  The service marketing mix has three
further variables included which are people, physical evidence and process.
They are discussed in detail in the article on service marketing mix.
The term marketing mix was first coined by Neil H Borden back in 1964 in
his article “The concept of marketing mix”. Several strategic analysts over
the years believe that the marketing mix can make or break the firm.
Having the right marketing mix at the start of the marketing plan is
absolutely essential. Over time the concept of marketing mix has provided a
steady platform for the launch of a new product or business.
As mentioned before, the marketing mix is characterized by four different
but equally important variables. These variables are never constant and
may be changed over time. However, a change in one of the variables
may cause a change in all the other variables as well. The variables are as
follows
1) Product –  The first thing you need, if you want to start a business, is a
product. Therefore Product is also the first variable in the marketing mix.
Product decisions are the first decisions you need to take before making any
marketing plan. A product can be divided into three parts. The core
product, the augmented product and the tertiary product. Before deciding
 on the product component there are some questions which you need to ask
yourself.
 What product are you selling?
 What would be the quality of your product?
 Which features are different from the market?
 What is the USP of the product?
 Whether the product will be branded as sub brand or completely new?
 What are the secondary products which can be sold along with primary
(Warranty, services)
Based on these questions, several product decisions have to be made.
These product decisions will in turn affect the other variables of the
marketing mix. For example –  You launch a car with is to have the highest
quality. Thus the pricing, promotions and placing would have to be altered
accordingly. Thus as long as you dont know your product, you cannot
decide any other variable of the marketing mix. However, if the product
features are not fitting in the marketing mix, you can alter the product such
that it finds a place for itself in the marketing mix.
2) Pricing – Pricing of a product depends on a lot of different variables
and hence it is constantly updated. Major consideration in pricing is the
costing of the product, the advertising and marketing expenses, any price
fluctuations in the market, distribution costs etc. Many of these factors can
change separately. Thus the pricing has to be such that it can bear the brunt
of changes for a certain period of time. However, if all these variables
change, then the pricing of a product has to be increased and decreased
accordingly.
Along with the above factors, there are also other things which have to be
taken in consideration when deciding on a pricing strategy. Competition
can be the best example. Similarly, pricing also affects the targeting and
positioning of a product. Pricing is used for sales promotions in the form of
trade discounts. Thus based on these factors there are several pricing
strategies, one of which is implemented for the marketing mix.
3) Place –  Place refers to the distribution channel of a product. If a
product is a consumer product, it needs to be available as far and wide as
possible. On the other hand, if the product is a Premium consumer
product, it will be available only in select stores. Similarly, if the product is
a business product, you need a team who interacts with businesses and
makes the product available to them. Thus the place where the product is
distributed, depends on the product and pricing decisions, as well as any
STP decisions taken by a firm.
Distribution has a huge affect on the profitability of a product. Consider a
FMCG company which has national distribution for its product. An increase
in petrol rates by 10 rs will in fact bring about drastic changes in the
profitability of the company. Thus supply chain and logistics decisions are
considered as very important costing decisions of the firm. The firm needs
to have a full proof logistics and supply chain plan for its distribution.

Promotions in the marketing mix includes the completeintegrated

marketing communications which in turn includes ATL and BTL
advertising as well as sales promotions. Promotions are dependent a lot on
the product and pricing decision. What is the budget for marketing and
advertising? What stage is the product in? If the product is completely new
in the market, it needs brand / product awareness promotions, whereas if
the product is already existing then it will need brand recall promotions.
Promotions also decide the segmentation targeting and positioning of the
product. The right kind of promotions affect all the other three variables – 
the product, price and place. If the promotions are effective, you might have
to increase distribution points, you might get to increase the price because
of the rising brand equity of the product, and the profitability might
support you in launching even more products. However, the budget
required for extensive promotions is also high. Promotions is considered as
marketing expenses and the same needs to be taken in consideration while
deciding the costing of the product.

Thus as we see from the above diagram, all the four variables of marketing
mix are inter related and affect each other. By increasing the pricing of the
product, demand of the product might lessen, and lesser distribution points
might be needed. On the other hand, the product USP can be such that
maximum concentration is on creating brand awareness, thereby
increasing need of better pricing and more promotions. Finally, the overall
marketing mix can result in your customer base asking for some
improvement in the product, and the same can be launched as the
upgraded product.
The role of marketing mix in Strategy – Marketing mix plays a crucial
role while deciding the strategy of an organization. It is the first step even
when a marketing plan or a business plan is being made. This is because,
your marketing mix decision will also affect segmentation, targeting and
positioning decisions. Based on products, segmentation and targeting will
be done. Based on the price, positioning can be decided. And these
decisions will likely affect the place and promotion decisions. Thus, the
marketing mix strategy goes hand in hand with segmentation targeting and
positioning.
The above four P’s of marketing give you an overall look at the product
marketing mix. If your product is a service then there are 3 further P’s
taken into consideration namely –  people, physical evidence and process.
For the same, you can refer theService marketing mix.
Here is an excellent video referring to the marketing mix and the 4P’s of
marketing.
In my term paper I had to discuss 7ps of ICICI bank. 7ps means what the marketing mix
they used for promoting their products. It is usually a strategies used by icici bank for
promoting their products, or we can say that for promoting their sales. As we know ICICI
(Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) is largest private sector bank by
market capitalization and second largest overall in term off assets.

The growth of the ICICI over the years has proved repeatedly the ability of the institution
in adopting new technologies and products. It is through its ability to nourish new
products and services that the institution has become a household name in a very short
span of time. ICICI Bank decided to target India’s burgeoning middle class and
corporate's by offering a high level of customer service and efficiency that rivaled the
foreign banks, on a much larger scale, at a lower cost. offer very services which is very
good in comparison to other banks. Credit cards services of ICICI bank are also very
good as comparison of other banks. In my term paper I also compare ICICI with HDFC
and AXIS bank.

INTRODUCTION TO ICICI BANK:

ICICI Bank (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) is India's
largest private sector bank by market capitalisation and second largest overall in terms
of assets. Total assets of Rs. 3,562.28 billion (US$ 77 billion) at December 31, 2009
and profit after tax Rs. 30.19 billion (US$ 648.8 million) for the nine months ended
December 31, 2009. The Bank also has a network of 1,700+ branches (as on 31 March,
2010) and about 4,721 ATMs in India and presence in 18 countries, as well as some 24
million customers (at the end of July 2007). ICICI Bank offers a wide range of banking
products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of
delivery channels and specialised subsidiaries and affiliates in the areas of investment
banking, life and non-life insurance, venture capital and asset management. ICICI Bank
is also the largest issuer of credit cards in India. ICICI Bank has got its equity shares
listed on the stock exchanges at Kolkata and Vadodara, Mumbai and
the National STOCK EXCHANGE  of India Limited, and its ADRs on the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE). The Bank is expanding in overseas markets and has the
largest international balance sheet among Indian banks. ICICI Bank now has wholly-
owned subsidiaries, branches and representatives offices in 18 countries, including an
offshore unit in Mumbai. This includes wholly owned subsidiaries in Canada, Russia
and the UK, offshore banking units in Bahrain and Singapore, an advisory branch in
Dubai, branches in Belgium, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, and representative offices in
Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, the United Arab
Emirates and USA. Overseas, the Bank is targeting the NRI (Non-Resident Indian)
population in particular.

ICICI reported a 1.15% rise in net profit to Rs. 1,014.21 crore on a 1.29% increase in
total income to Rs. 9,712.31 crore in Q2 September 2008 over Q2 September 2007.
The bank's current and savings account (CASA) ratio increased to 30% in 2008 from
25% in 2007.

Sensing an untapped opportunity, ICICI Bank decided to target India’s burgeoning

middle class and corporate's by offering a high level of customer service and efficiency
that rivalled the foreign banks, on a much larger scale, at a lower cost. ICICI has around
27 subsidiaries. Of course, the most prominent and most successful among them is the
ICICI bank.ICICI Bank is one of the Big Four Banks of India with State Bank of
India, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.

7 P’S OF ICICI BANK

PRODUCT MIX
1. DEPOSITS
ICICI Bank offers wide variety of Deposit Products to suit our requirements. Coupled
with convenience of networked branches/ over 1800 ATMs and facility of E-channels
like Internet and Mobile Banking, ICICI Bank brings banking at your doorstep.

Savings Account: ICICI Bank offers a power packed Savings Account with a host of
convenient features and banking channels to transact through.

Senior Citizen Services: The Senior Citizen Services from ICICI Bank has several
advantages that are tailored to bring more convenience and enjoyment in your life.

Young Stars: It's really important to help children learn the value of finances and money
management at an early age. Banking is a serious business, but we make banking a
pleasure and at the same time children learn how to manage their personal finances.
Fixed Deposits: Safety, Flexibility, Liquidity and Returns!!!! A combination of unbeatable
features of the Fixed Deposit from ICICI Bank.

Recurring Deposits: Through ICICI Bank Recurring Deposit you can invest small
amounts of money every month that ends up with a large saving on maturity. So you
enjoy twin advantages- affordability and higher earnings.

Roaming Current Account: Only Roaming Current Account from ICICI Bank travels the
distance with your business. You can access your accounts at over 500 networked
branches across the country.

Bank @ Campus: Thanks to bank@campus, child can now surf the Net and access all
the details of his / her account at the click of a mouse! No need to visit the bank branch
at all.

ICICI Bank Salary Account: is a benefit-rich payroll account for Employers and
Employees. As an organization, you can opt for our Salary Accounts to enable easy
disbursements of salaries and enjoy numerous other benefits too.

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2. INVESTMENTS
Along with Deposit products and Loan offerings, ICICI Bank assists you to manage your
finances by providing various investment options such as:

ICICI Bank Tax Saving Bonds

Government of India Bonds

Investment in Mutual Funds

Initial Public Offers by Corporate

Investment in "Pure GOLD "

FOREIGN EXCHANGE  Services

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, 2004

3. ANYWHERE BANKING
ICICI Bank is the second largest bank in the country. It services a customer base of
more than 5 million customer accounts through a multi-channel access network. This
includes more than 500 branches and extension counters, over 1800 ATMs, Call Centre
and Internet Banking.

Thus, one can access the various services ICICI Bank has to offer at anytime,
anywhere and from anyplace.

4. LOAN
a) Home Loans

b) Personal Loans

c) Car Loans

d) Two Wheeler Loans

e) Commercial Vehicle Loans

f) Loans against Securities

g) Farm Equipment Loans

h) Construction Equipment Loans

i) Office Equipment Loans

j) Medical Equipment Loans

5. CARDS
a) Credit Card

b) Debit cum ATM Card

c) Travel Card

d) VBV (VERIFY BY VISA): Verified by Visa (VBV) is a new service from VISA that lets
us shop securely online with our existing Visa Credit card. Usable only on Verified by
Visa sites, this service through a simple checkout process, confirms our identity when
we make purchases.

e) Master Card Securecode: MasterCard® SecureCode™ is an easy to use, secured

online payment service from ICICI Bank that lets you shop securely online with your
existing ICICI Bank MasterCard® Credit Card. This service through a simple checkout
process, confirms your identity when you make purchases on the Internet.

f) American express card: With ICICI Bank American Express Credit Card just shop
online as you normally would and then enter your correct card information and billing
address. We would validate the billing address that we provide with our records and
authenticate our transaction. It’s that simple and helps in safeguarding our online
transaction.If we are unsure what is our billing address on record with us, simply call our
24-hour Customer Care numbers given on the back of the card for a quick check.

6. DEMAT SERVICES
ICICI Bank Demat Services boasts of an ever-growing customer base of over 7 lacs
account holders. In their continuous endeavor to offer best of the class services to our
customers we offer the following features:

Digitally signed transaction statement by e-mail.

Corporate benefit tracking.

e-Instruction facility - facility to transfer securities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

through Internet Interactive Voice Response (IVR) at a lower cost.

Dedicated specially trained customer care executives at their call centre, to handle all
queries.
7. MOBILE BANKING
With ICICI Bank, banking is no longer what it used to be. ICICI Bank offers Mobile
Banking facility to all its Bank, Credit Card and Demat customers. ICICI Bank Mobile
Banking enables you to bank while being on the move.

8. NRI SERVICES
ONLINE MONEY  TRANSFER facility available to NRIs worldwide through
www.money2India.com at the click of a button!

Benefits:
FREE Money transfers into accounts with over 30 banks in India

Demand Drafts issued and payable at over 1250 locations in India

ONLINE Tracking of the status of your funds

SUPERIOR EXCHANGE RATES

OFFLINE MONEY TRANSFER facility is also available across geographies through

our local branches and in association with partner banks/ exchange houses.

PRICING MIX
The pricing decisions or the decisions related to interest and fee or commission charged
by ICICI are found instrumental in motivating or influencing the target market.

The RBI and the IBA are concerned with regulations. The rate of interest is regulated by
the RBI and other charges are controlled by IBA.

The pricing policy of a bank is considered important for raising the number of
customers’ vis-à-vis the accretion of deposits. Also the quality of service provided has
direct relationship with the fees charged. Thus while deciding the price mix customer
services rank the top position.
The ICICI bank has to frame two- fold strategies. First, the strategy is concerned with
interest and fee charged and the second strategy is related to the interest paid. Since
both the strategies throw a vice- versa impact, it is important that ICICI bank attempt to
establish a correlation between two. It is essential that both the buyers as well as the
sellers have feeling of winning.

Pricing ICICI Bank Products Starts With

Three Basic Questions.
1. What rate does the bank need to
meet its financial objectives?
The answer is, “it depends.”

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Some considerations for loan and deposit pricing are:

ROA or ROE objectives

Related income taxes

Earning assets to total assets

Equity-to-asset ratio

Cost to service earning assets being funded or deposits funding an earning asset
Pricing for the activities and risks associated with the product

Rate tiers based on product balances

Asset and liability mix

Another element to consider in the pricing of earning assets is the risk of loss. Most
notably, this is relevant in loan pricing. Many banks assign a risk weighting to individual
loans over a certain size or based on loan type and assign a credit risk charge based on
those ratings.

Customer relationships are difficult to assign a value to in the pricing process.

Customers will generally press for some price concessions in consideration of other
relationships they have with the bank.

Asset and liability mix also impacts pricing results. Generally speaking, banks operating
with higher loan-to-asset ratios are able to afford to pay more for deposits. Likewise,
banks can afford to be more competitive on certain deposit products if they have fewer
maturities in a particular timeframe or less total outstanding balances in a product line.

2. What is the market rate for the core

product?
Customers have more distribution channels available to them today than at any

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Some considerations for loan and deposit pricing are:

ROA or ROE objectives

Related income taxes

Earning assets to total assets

Equity-to-asset ratio

Cost to service earning assets being funded or deposits funding an earning asset

Pricing for the activities and risks associated with the product

Rate tiers based on product balances

Asset and liability mix

Another element to consider in the pricing of earning assets is the risk of loss. Most
notably, this is relevant in loan pricing. Many banks assign a risk weighting to individual
loans over a certain size or based on loan type and assign a credit risk charge based on
those ratings.

Customer relationships are difficult to assign a value to in the pricing process.

Customers will generally press for some price concessions in consideration of other
relationships they have with the bank.

Asset and liability mix also impacts pricing results. Generally speaking, banks operating
with higher loan-to-asset ratios are able to afford to pay more for deposits. Likewise,
banks can afford to be more competitive on certain deposit products if they have fewer
maturities in a particular timeframe or less total outstanding balances in a product line.

2. What is the market rate for the core

product?
Customers have more distribution channels available to them today than at any other
point in history. In the past 10 years, the number of bank locations has increased 20%.
Of course, there are the mortgage bankers, the Internet, and a host of other financial
service providers competing for your customer’s loan and deposit business.

The point is, the competitive marketplace always ensures that if a financial institution is
charging too much for loans or paying too little for deposits, its share of the market will
likely dwindle as existing and prospective customers find alternative providers. You can
do all the math you want to determine required pricing points, but if your pricing is
uncompetitive, your market share will shrink.
3. What would the bank have to do to
sales and operations to make its rates
the most competitive in its market?
Pricing is a key issue for the associates who sell bank products to your customers. The
fact is, lenders want the lowest rates, and people dealing with depositors want to pay
the highest rates. You need the right balance of fee income, strategies to reduce
operating costs, and a healthy asset and liability mix to change your required pricing.

PLACE
This component of marketing mix is related to the offering of services. The services are
sold through the branches.

The 2 important decision making areas are: making available the promised services to
the ultimate users and selecting a suitable place for bank branches.

The number of branches OF ICICI: 1900 in India and 33 in Mumbai.

What attract peoples for choosing

ICICI?
The selection of a suitable place for the establishment of a branch is significant with

the view point of making place accessible.

The safety and security provisions a

Convenient to both the parties, such as the users and the bankers

Infrastructure facility

Near to station and located on s. v. road well crowded area.

Market coverage
PROMOTION MIX
Advertising: Television, radio, movies, theatres

Print media: hoardings, newspaper, magazines

Publicity: road shows, campus visits, sandwich man, Sponsorship

Sales promotion: gifts, discount and commission, incentives, etc.

Personal selling: Cross-sale (selling at competitors place),personalized service

Telemarketing: ICICI one source Call center (mind space)

PROCESS
Flow of activities: all the major activities of ICICI banks follow RBI guidelines. There has
to be adherence to certain rules and principles in the banking operations. The activities
have been segregated into various departments accordingly.

Standardization: ICICI bank has got standardized procedures got typical transactions. In
fact not only all the branches of a single-bank, but all the banks have some
standardization in them. This is because of the rules they are subject to. Besides this,
each of the banks has its standard forms, documentations etc. Standardization saves a
lot of time behind individual transaction.

Customization: There are specialty counters at each branch to deal with customers of a
particular scheme. Besides this the customers can select their deposit period among the
available alternatives.

Number of steps: numbers of steps are usually specified and a specific pattern is
followed to minimize time taken.

Simplicity: in ICICI banks various functions are segregated. Separate counters exist with
clear indication. Thus a customer wanting to deposit money goes to ‘deposits’ counter
and does not mingle elsewhere. This makes procedures not only simple but consume
less time. Besides instruction boards in national boards in national and regional
language help the customers further.

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Customer involvement: ATM does not involve any bank employees. Besides, during
usual bank transactions, there is definite customer involvement at some or the other
place because of the money matters and signature requires.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCES
Physical evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no
physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are
many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following:

Internet/web pages

Paperwork

Brochures

Furnishings

Business cards

The building itself (such as prestigious offices or scenic headquarters)

The physical evidences also include signage, reports, punch lines, other tangibles,
employee’s dress code etc.

Signage: each and every bank has its logo by which a person can identify the company.
Thus such signages are significant for creating visualization and corporate identity.

Financial reports: The Company’s financial reports are issued to the customers to
emphasis or credibility.
Tangibles: bank gives pens, writing pads to the internal customers. Even the
passbooks, chequebooks, etc reduce the inherent intangibility of services.

Punch lines: punch lines or the corporate statement depict the philosophy and attitude
of the bank. Banks have influential punch lines to attract the customers.

Employee’s dress code: ICICI bank follows a dress code for their internal customers.
This helps the customers to feel the ease and comfort.

THE PEOPLE
All people directly or indirectly involved in the consumption of banking services are an
important part of the extended marketing mix.

Knowledge Workers, Employees, Management and other Consumers often add

significant value to the total product or service offering.

It is the employees of a bank which represent the organisation to its customers.

In a bank organization, employees are essentially the contact personnel with customer.
Therefore, an employee plays an important role in the marketing operations of a service
organisation.

To realize its potential in bank marketing, ICICI become conscious in its potential in
internal marketing - the attraction, development, motivation and retention of qualified
employee-customers through need meeting job-products. Internal marketing paves way
for external marketing of services. In internal marketing a variety of activities are used
internally in an active, marketing like manner and in a coordinated way.

The starting point in internal marketing is that the employees are the first internal market
for the organization.

The basic objective of internal marketing is to develop motivated and customer

conscious employees.

A service company can be only as good as its people. A service is a performance and it
is usually difficult to separate the performance from the people.

If the people don’t meet customers' expectations, then neither does the service.
Therefore, investing in people quality in service business means investing in product
quality.
COMPARISON OF ICICI WITH OTHER
BANKS:
ICICI bank market capitalization is more then other banks. It has market capitalization is
105,709.63 cr, while HDFC is 91,326.65 cr and AXIS bank is 91,326.65 cr.

ICICI has net interest income is 25,706.93 cr, which is higher then other banks. While
net interest income of HDFC is 16,172.91 cr and AXIS bank is 11,638.02 cr.

Net profit of ICICI bank is 4,024.98 cr, which is again higher then other banks. While net
profit of HDFC is 2,948.69 cr and AXIS bank net profit is 2,514.53 cr.

Total assets of ICICI bank are 379,300.96 cr, which is higher then other banks. While
total assets of HDFC bank is 183,270.78 cr and total assets of AXIS bank is 147,722.06
cr.

ICICI bank’s headquarters in Mumbai is vary huge, then other bank headquarters.

In the past two years, the bank has spent Rs 185 crore on advertising and publicity (In
comparison, HDFC has spent Rs 100 crore).

HDFC Bank's retail deposits are about Rs 23,000 crore (Rs 230 billion). Even in home
loans, ICICI Bank commands 30 per cent of the market, having eaten into housing
finance pioneer, HDFC's share.

ICICI Bank has issued 3 million credit cards -- that is more than twice the number of
HDFC Bank's credit card users. However, industry observers point out that ICICI Bank's
effective users for credit cards may not be high.

As a result of its perceptive branch strategy, ICICI Bank has acquired more than five
million internet, mobile and telephone banking customers, i.e. much greater then HDFC
and AXIS bank.

ICICI strategy for promotion of financial

inclusion:
ICICI Bank has taken up specific initiatives to ramp up financial literacy as well as
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intermediation to the underserved and under banked segments in both rural and

urban areas.

ICICI Bank’s financial intermediation models, both through the microfinance institutions
and business correspondents have been designed to build a repository of information
with regard to financial behaviour of the customers.

ICICI Bank’s Financial Intermediation Models:

With focus on low-income segments, ICICI Bank has come up with innovative

delivery channels:

Microfinance
ICICI Bank works closely with MFIs and NGOs to adapt its products to suit consumer

needs.

Two innovative models have helped achieve scale in serving the low-income

household:

a) Partnership Model being implemented with NGOs and MFIs: Under this model

ICICI Bank forges an alliance with existing MFIs wherein the MFI undertakes the

promotional role of identifying, training and promoting the micro-finance

clients and the ICICI Bank finances the clients directly on the recommendation
of the MFI, so the customer and portfolio resides in the Bank’s book.

b) Securitisation of Portfolios of MFIs: Under this model ICICI Bank buys out

portfolios from MFIs. The MFI continues to service the clients and acts as the

collection agent. Here again, the MFI shares the credit risk with the Bank. A

variant of the securitisation model is ‘on-tap securitisation’, wherein the MFI

receives an advance purchase consideration to create a portfolio of loans that

could then be periodically sold to ICICI Bank.

Technology
The Bank has been actively looking at technology solutions to scale up the micro

finance portfolio. Further, the Bank has been considering adopting a 'Core Banking

System' (CBS) for managing the loan portfolio generated under the partnership

model. In this regard, the Bank has found an able partner in FINO to provide

technology solutions to the micro finance sector. The technology solution

comprises of core banking and smart card systems. In light of the technology

solutions available through FINO, the Bank has designed a new process for

delivering loans under the partnership model.

Some of the key aspects where a strong technology platform will add value to the

micro finance operations include reduction in transaction cost; better data

management and reporting capacities and capability to interface with multiple

peripherals, etc. This will also enable enhanced disclosure and transparency in the

operations of MFIs, setting a platform for robust securitisation / buyout

opportunities to meet the priority sector lending objectives of the regulator.

Business Correspondent
In line with the RBI guidelines ICICI Bank employs Business Correspondent (BC)

model to extend financial services, especially the much-needed savings services to

rural customers.

In the pilot stage, the transactions by BC are being done with the help of an 'e-
Passbook' and an Authentication Device (AD). The e-Passbook can display and store

the customer KYC information, customer account details and the transactions in

each account. It also has a unique feature of biometric authentication by the way

of fingerprints, thereby mitigating the risk related to PIN (Personal Identification

Number) in the rural scenario.

ADs provide Customer interface with user-friendly menu options, enabling

transactions. An authorized operator is enrolled by capturing the fingerprints of all

the 10 fingers to mitigate fraud risk, can operate each AD. The transaction is

recorded on the AD, which at specific intervals would be uploaded and updated in

the Bank's system through a normal telephone line, which is a widely available

infrastructure even in remote rural areas. Further connectivity through GSM and

CDA would also be made possible to ensure that the transaction details are

updated in the Bank’s system at higher frequency.

Multiple products
ICICI Bank offers a complete suite of products and services to meet the individual

financial requirements of customer segments. Savings, investments and insurance

products are made available to its rural and agri customer base. The Bank also

offers microfinance services to low-income households and crop loans, farm

equipment loans, commodity based loans to farmers.

Hybrid channels
ICICI Bank employs delivery channels backed by technological innovations to

achieve scale and outreach in a sustainable manner. The Bank’s channel

architecture includes branch and non-branch channels. Branches act as a business

hub providing banking services on the one hand, while facilitating the fulfilment of

products that have been sourced by the business facilitators and business

correspondents.

Non-branch channels are of two types, business facilitators and business

correspondents.