ICICI Bank Full Form Name: ICICI Meaning
Full
Form of ICICI:
Industrial
Credit and Investment Corporation of India
ICICI
Bank Full Form stands for Industrial Credit and
Investment Corporation of India. ICICI is an Indian financial institution
founded in 1994 and has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It offers
various banking and financial services to retail customers and corporates in
areas like investment banking, venture capital, asset management and non-life
insurance, etc. Let us shed more light on Full Form of ICICI Bank.
ICICI
Bank – Brief Overview:
Banking
industry in India is one of the largest flourishing commercial industries,
which has expanded internationally. While the colonial masters introduced
banking system but much of it flourished after independence. In fact, it was
only after nationalization drive of the banks, and liberalization of the Indian
economy that the Banking sector saw major changes. With the policy of
liberalization implemented in 1991, major overhauling occurred in the Banking
industry that brought not only internal reforms but also ushered in the age of
modern-day banking system in India.
Banks
began adopting international models of banking and eventually, India saw the
rise of some of the largest banks in the world. As India opened its gate for
private companies, many private banking companies started appearing in the
scenario. Private banking companies savored success more than that their public
counterparts. This happened primarily because of the openness of the private
sector to newer and better reforms and implementation of international
standards of banking in India. As the world was gearing towards modernization,
private banking companies quite smartly took advantage of people’s proclivity
to modern-day reforms and services.
There
have been many private banking companies since then but there are a few among
the lot, which have carved out their own niche in the commercial banking
sector. One such name is the ICICI bank. Headquartered in Mumbai and run by one
of the most influential women personalities of the world, Mrs. Chanda Kochhar,
ICICI Bank is one of the most popular banks, which is actually a multinational
company that carries out banking services not just in India but across other
parts of the globe. ICICI rose to success in this field and in order to
understand the history and present relevance of ICICI, one must go through the
following ten points about the bank that distinguishes it from other private and
public banks in the country.
History
of ICICI Bank:
One
must always start with historical background of anything of which one wishes to
learn about. By understanding the historical circumstances, one is able to
appreciate the purpose and allied functions that anything is supposed to
discharge. The purpose of introducing banking system was to overhaul the
erratic, unreliable domestic lending business prevalent back then in colonial
India and pave a way for a systematic and controlled banking system. ICICI was
established to introduce different reforms and methods of banking in the
country.
A
Joint venture between the World Bank and India’s public sector bank and
insurance companies established ICICI back in 1955 in order to expedite the
financial credit system in the country. However, it was only in 1994 that ICICI
became a wholly owned subsidiary. The bank started operations with a different
name, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Bank but it
eventually preferred to use the shortened name ICICI Bank. The parent company
that was formed in 1955 eventually merged with the bank. In 1998, the
shareholding of ICICI was alleviated to 46% by means of a public offering of
shares. A major achievement was made in the year 1999 when it got listed on New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Major
acquisitions of the ICICI Bank:
ICICI
went on to expand more and more with time. It became an international bank and
attained major acquisitions that showed its financial strength and value in the
banking sector. Some of the acquisitions that ICICI Bank undertook were bank of
Madurai in the year 2001, ITC Classic Finance that was a commercial firm
engaged in business of hire and purchase services, the Sangli bank in 2007, the
Bank of Rajasthan that was acquired for heavy amount of Rs. 30 billion, two
branches of Grindlays Bank situated in Shimla and Darjeeling, etc.
ICICI’s
contribution in the development of financial system of the country:
ICICI
has played an indispensable role in the development of the infrastructure of
the financial system of the country. Since its inception, it has become a major
credit system infrastructure and participated in major developmental projects.
ICICI has participated in the following developmental projects.
One
of the major contributions of the ICICI Bank is in the establishment of the
National Stock Exchange (NSE) in 1992, which was created with objective of
allowing nationwide trading services and ensuring that investors go through a
more transparent and reliable mechanism while investing their resources in any
company.
In
the promotion and establishment of the Financial Innovation Network and
Operations Pvt Ltd, ICICI has a key role. ICICI helped in the creation of FINO,
with purpose of allowing easy access to technological solutions to the areas
where banking system does not exist or is at an underdeveloped stage.
Credit
Information Bureau of India Ltd. is another institution, whose development and
promotion is credited to ICICI as well. Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd.
is India’s first bureau in the area of credit information and was established
in the year 2000. It is the storehouse of information relating to credit
systems and borrowings and it provides such information in the manner of
reports.
North
Eastern Development Finance Corporation is a corporation that is directed
towards development of agriculture, medicines, industries, poultry, etc in the
North-east area of the country. It was established in Guwahati in the year
1995.
There
are other institutions whose creation was promoted by the ICICI like
Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Ltd., Asset Reconstruction
Company India Ltd, etc.
ICICI
Bank and its innovative services:
ICICI
is known to have come up with innovative banking services that have attracted
many consumers from across the world. All of these products are aimed at
providing a convenient environment of banking to its customers and ensuring
that Indian banking systems develop along with the International trends.
We
shall begin with ICICI’s ambitious “Extraa Home Loans” that was India’s first
every mortgage guarantee loans and was introduced in the year 2015. The
attractive feature about this product is that it provides customers the option
to extend the period of repayment up to the age of 67. ICICI, in order to
effectively carry out this feature, has collaborated with India Mortgage
Guarantee Corporation (IMGC).
Then
there is Smart Vault. ICICI introduced in the year 2015, which is about highly
advanced, protected safety vaults for its customers. These lockers are
available even during non-banking hours of the bank. The primary feature of
these Smart vaults is to enable the customers to access their securities with
complete privacy and assurance of utmost protection.
For
the NRIs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, ICICI introduced the scheme of “Touch n
Remit” that allows them to transfer money to India frombBanks in Bahrain
instantly.
ICICI
is famed for introducing India’s first ever “Contactless” debit and credit
cards that provides customers the feature of waving their cards near the ATMs
without the need to swipe the cards. This service has introduced the much
popular banking technology and endeavored to provide access to modern-day
banking systems.
ICICI
Bank takes up the social responsibility:
ICICI
has not fallen back in taking up social responsibilities and has introduced the
“Go Green Initiative” to promote importance of environmental development and
protection. The Bank has therefore incorporated Corporate Social responsibility
as a part of its regular exercise to promote environmental issues among its
customers. This initiative also attempts to develop the banking environment and
bolster ties between the customer and the bank.
With
this initiative, the bank has come up with several ‘green’ products Instabanking,
where different alternate channels are brought together through internet
banking. Another product is the Vehicle Financing, where the bank waives of 50%
processing fee on cars that run on eco-friendly resources for example,
Hyundai’s Santro, Maruti Omni, etc. Another amazing product by the ICICI bank
is the Carbon Footprint Calculator, which calculates the amount of electricity
consumed per month.
Subsidiaries
of the ICICI Bank:
As
mentioned earlier, ICICI Bank operations have gone beyond national boundaries.
ICICI bank has many subsidiaries in and outside India and these subsidiaries
have contributed to the expansion of the ICICI business and helping it to
become an International banking hub.
Its
domestic subsidiaries are ICICI Prudential Trust Limited, ICICI Prudential
Pension Funds Management Company Limited, ICICI Prudential Asset Management
Company Limited, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, ICICI
Securities Primary Dealership Limited, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company
Limited etc. Internationally, ICICI has ICICI Bank USA, ICICI Bank Canada, CICI
International Limited, ICICI Bank Canada, etc as its subsidiaries.
ICICI
Bank – Recognition and awards:
ICICI
has played a key role in the promotion and development of a better, robust, and
credible banking system in the country and this role has been recognized
occasionally through various awards and recognition added to its kitty every
year or so. With every award it earns, it rises more in fame and credibility
and no wonder ICICI Bank is one of the most attended private banks of the
country. It is also one of the most successful private banking India Company
abroad.
ICICI
has received the following awards and recognition:
- “The Asian Banker Excellence in
Retail Financial Services Program” in the year 2003
- ICICI bank was placed in the
“Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Report” in 2011.
- In 2014, the Bank Trust Report
named ICICI bank as 28th most trusted banking company in the
country.
- In 2014, it was also awarded
the title “Best Retail Bank of India”.
- The Asian banker adjudicated
ICICI as the winner of “Best Internet banking Initiative” in 2015.
- Minister Arun Jaitley had
honored ICICI with a certificate recognizing it as one of top five
companies in banking governance. This happened in the year 2014.
Programs
offered by ICICI Bank:
In
this section, we shall talk about social initiatives undertaken by ICICI with
the purpose of fulfilling its role as responsible corporate body. It has
conceptualized programs that have effectively discharged the Corporate Social
Responsibility.
ICICI
came up with “Read to Lead” program that was driven towards promotion of
education among underprivileged children. It focused on providing elementary
education facilities to such children. In order to further this object, the
Bank collaborated with several NGOs to spread awareness about the importance of
education in villages and communities and ensure that schools are set up to
carry out the task.
This
programme was launched in two phases. In the second phase, ICICI financially
assisted in the establishment of libraries in the rural areas of Bastar
district in Chattisgarh.
Controversies
involving ICICI Bank:
A
corporate entity is not unknown to controversies and so is the ICICI Bank. The
popular bank has been embroiled in major controversies that have affected
adversely its credibility and overall reputation in the banking market.
ICICI
had faced accusations that it was engaged in fraudulent and inhumane recovery
methods against those, who have failed to repay their loans. Many accused ICICI
Bank of undertaking methods that were too harsh and arbitrary upon the debtors.
In fact, there were many suicide cases linked to this controversy.
Another
controversy was allegations on ICICI for committing fraudulent money laundering
activities, which were in direct breach of the Reserve Bank of India guidelines
and rules. A sting operation showed many officials from the ICICI bank
participating in fraudulent businesses and agreeing to utilize black money. An
inquiry was commenced under the orders of the government of India and the
Reserve Bank of India and appropriate action was taken against accused persons.
Recent
credit ratings of the ICICI Bank and its financial foothold:
Considered
one of the most trustable credit rating agency, Moody has generally given high
ratings to the ICICI bank however, in 2015 it lowered the ratings. However,
despite low ratings from Moody, it remains the second largest bank in India in
terms of assets and third largest in terms of market capitalization
ICICI
Bank is an important participant in the Banking Industry of the country and has
done a lot towards positive development of ICICI. However, recent controversies
have affected the overall reputation of the bank and big stakeholders have been
engaging in regular overhauling of the system so as to ensure that this does
not happen again. Regardless of that, the overall contribution of ICICI as a
private banking company has been immensely great.