ICICI bank calls it – interoperable app
What is it?
In general you can not use any bank’s app if you are not it’s customer. Every bank asks the user to login before using.
ICICI decided to do away with it last year, did a soft launch in December 2020 and a full launch in February 2021.
What’s the use of opening up the app to non customers?
Traditionally there was no use as banking app was primarily meant to serve the customers. However, now a days there are so many things a bank does from mobile recharge to air ticket booking that as such there is no need to make it restricted to the bank’s customers.
Even a non bank customer can utilise the app for many of these services and then there is always potential to cross sell.
In a way, while platforms like Paytm are moving from services to try becoming banks, banks like ICICI are doing the reverse. Both will end up being integrated service providers albeit at different levels and capabilities.
What’s ICICI’s experience with this?
The bank claims that opening up has worked very well for them. The app has seen 4.5 million downloads and 10% of these users became customers taking some or the other banking product e.g., auto loan, credit card, home loan, personal loan etc.
In the hindsight, I do believe that it was a good strategy and am not surprised that it has worked well.
It can be expected that most other banks will follow suit.
ICICI Bank now opens it’s trade platform for non customer to gain market share.
It has launched a new trade platform which will allow exporters and importers to access services like letter of credit, bank guarantee, forex, payment and collections and also value added services like credit bureaus and shipment booking.