At first glance trying to compare SBI with ICICI would look like comparing a grand old man with a toddler. But the rapid progress made by ICICI, a private bank opened barely 25 years ago, makes it possible to be compared with the oldest bank in India. SBI (or State Bank of India) is a goliath in comparison to ICICI with wide reach and a very high number of branches. It is far ahead of ICICI even in number of ATM’s across the country (56000 in comparison to 3500 of ICICI). Let us take a closer look at some more features to draw a conclusion.
SBI has deposits of 3.8 lakh crore rupees in comparison to 1.65 lakh crore rupees of ICICI which shows that ICICI is fast catching up with the premier public sector bank of India. This is really surprising with SBI having much greater workforce than ICICI. This simply means that revenue generated per employee is much higher for ICICI than SBI (nearly 3 times than SBI). It is really surprising that SBI pays a higher savings interest rate and gives out loans at a cheaper rate but customers are getting attracted to ICICI. Perhaps it is more due to the brand image being created by ICICI having appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. An account in ICICI has become a status symbol.
It is true that people were attracted towards ICICI as they were surprised with its better quality services in comparison to SBI which, being the top public sector bank in India had become somewhat complacent. But in the last decade or so, SBI has modernized beyond recognition and is offering services at par with ICICI.
As far as money transfers abroad are concerned, one gets to know the exchange rates applied the same day and one can transfer unlimited sum in a day in case of SBI. On the other hand, ICICI tells the exchange rate applied after 4 days and imposes a daily limit of $5000 on transfers. This one example gives one an indication of transparency that SBI has in its system.
As far as services are concerned, ICICI is very strict in cases of minimum balances and returns the check if minimum balance requirements are not met. On the other hand, personal relations matter a lot in SBI and you can even get a call from the bank saying you need to deposit some money to get the check cleared. This is not to say that the staff is inhuman or anything like that at ICICI but they really adopt very professional approach and those used to getting preferential treatment on account of being regular customers at SBI get a rude shock when they switch to ICICI.
On the financial front, though SBI has been performing impressively over the years, ICICI is progressing at a brisker pace and the rate at which ICICI is mobilizing deposits every year, it seems that it will overtake SBI in near future.
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In brief: SBI vs ICICI • ICICI is the largest private sector bank in India while SBI is the largest public sector bank. • In just 25 years of its existence, ICICI has put up a great performance because of high quality of services and has come very close to SBI in terms of deposits mobilized despite having a smaller workforce. • Though SBI gives a better interest on savings and provides loans that are cheaper, ICICI is being preferred by people • Of late SBI has modernized and is today rubbing shoulders with ICICI in all banking needs. • At current rate of progress, ICICI may eventually take over SBI in near future.
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