'ICICI: Is it safe?' blog discussion

appacheindian1

Hi folks,
I recently sent a crossed ICICI cheque to India by recorded delivery to debit an overseas bank account held in India, only to find out that some smart guy in Mumbai had corrected the payee and amount and cashed in in a faked new account. Before he got hold off the second cheque, I frantically contacted the office in UK and was redirected to a number in India. The whole circus went on and I lost £500 in one sweep.
The attitude of ICICI was one of silence and total apathy:p :mad: . They are not trustworthy on small amounts and therefore, I would not touch them with a barge pole for a larger investment!

Mukesh12345

I tried to open a bank account with the HiSave account. This company is absolutely hopeless. The can't get the communication going between India and there Wembley, London office. If something were to go wrong with your application I would hate to try getting it back from this unbelievably incompetent run Indian Bank.

Also when visiting the Leicester branch during there uncertain times in October, they were refusing customers withdrawals from there accounts as they like to put it, "their systems were down." They were perfectly fine when customers wanted to deposit money though.

frogman_2

Appache & Mukesh, I would find your posts slightly more believable if they weren't your one & only post. I have been with ICICI Bank for the last 3 years and, if anything, their UK operations have been getting better. They still have to improve; especially in their communications but when I look at how precariously placed the UK/US banks are placed, I actually have more confidence in Indian banks who were not as exposed to the toxic US debt market.

light

I totally agree, I have been with them for 2 years with fd accounts never had any problems. At least the call centers try and help !!:T

Mukesh12345

Frogman, I think it is irrelevant to how many posts I have made. Just having gone through the registration to this website is dedication enough to complain about a useless bank. Have you heard/read about the instability of ICICI Bank in India. Inputting billions of £/$/Ind Rps has proven in the UK, US, West Indies, Iceland and everywhere else to do little to improve the current economic climate.

Steer clear of ICICI bank if you have any common sense.:j

I instead opened an account with West Bromwich Building Society. It was quick and easy with only a 0.1 percentage point difference in the rate but a whole lot easier.

:money:

THIS IS TWO POSTS NOW. Feel like a pro already.

astreix

Mukesh12345 wrote: »

Just having gone through the registration to this website is dedication enough to complain about a useless bank.

you have every right to vent your frustration if you are not happy with any organisation.

However 'The (Consumer) Vent Board' is probably the right place for it, rather than a discussion on stability of the bank.

ch4ndresh

Not to start any rumours but having read local indian newspapers and also receiving calls from relatives in India...this bank's stability in India is in question ? Not sure though about the Uk operation as we should be protected here if the banks goes bust in India ??

light

Why is it when you are annoyed with a bank for services / issues it comes back to the same old chestnut " bank stability " or I put my money in xxx because of service etc etc.

No one is stopping you putting your money whereever you want but lets change this record !! it's getting boring.

I am personally happy with there services and never had problems with them.

Optimist

Perfectly happy with ICICI. The rates have always been competitive and on the one of occasion I have had a problem in trying to open a fixed rate account. This just before he rates changed downwards, not only was it sorted quickly and efficiently they opened the account giving me the higher rate

silentfox

Martin

I understand and agree with your note of caution regarding icici , especially after the way our Icelandic friends run banks.

However the only guarantee I now look at regardless of bank name is the fscs compensation.

So with this mind and the government shafting savers, I have to look at ICICI.

But being paranoid which worked well in the case of Icesave (as I was tempted). I have two questions which I hope you can get OFFICAL answers to.

1. Can the fscs/FSA withdraw protection for a particular institution?

2. And guessing the answer is “yes” to the first question, all I really need to know is if the FSA/FSCS was to withdraw protection of a institution that it currently protects, would it do so on the basis that those deposits currently protected would continue to be so?

In other words if I put £50K into BANK X today and BANK X is protected by FSCS to the full £50K limit (and NOT UNDER ANY PASSPORT SCHEME). If on 6th June 2009 fsa/fscs decide they don’t want to cover BANK X, will they continue to protect my deposit and not protect and further deposits from 6th June 2009, or will I be given a fixed period in which to remove my money AND will the FSA force the bank to break any fixed term agreement to allow me to withdraw my money.

Before anyone decides to have a go like they did over my Icesave warning, I am not interested unless it is something constructive.