Hi-Save bonus account with the ICICI Bank

Stompa

BRYNEL wrote: »

The Icky,icky (ICICI) bank,is a joke.Avoid like the plague

They're certainly the most amateur bank I've ever encountered.

Aidy

mackemdave wrote: »

I was able to change my address and telephone number on line..it says any changes should be affective within 24 hrs...Ive been with them nearly 18 mths and cant say Ive ever had a problem with them..worse banks out there than ICICI

Being online is a distant dream. I think I was weeks, if not months, from getting online!

SpiraliS

Once you login, it feels.... I don't know. Not quite right. A bit creepy... a bit "basic", as the first poster said in this thread. The long shot is, it isn't slick... the whole process and setup feels very foreign and untrustworthy.

Avoid if you can.

m1618

I've persevered with ICICI because of the high interest rate, but it's not been an easy ride.

I had an account with them years ago, and don't remember there being any problems then. They've been trading for years in this country, are covered by the FCA £85,000 guarantee, so have no reason to think they're unsafe.

However, that doesn't mean that their system doesn't leave much to be desired!

Getting the account open took ages. It's taken two weeks to get to the stage where I can move money in. ICICI say that they tell you it will take 9-11 business days to open an account, but I don't remember seeing that anywhere. (That doesn't mean it isn't there somewhere!)

They take a £1 test Direct Debit from your account (presumably some sort of security/account validation check). That took some time to disappear from my linked account.

I couldn't log into ICICI until they sent me my Username info by email, which arrived two weeks after I initially applied.

When I called to check progress (before the email arrived) they did give me the account number that I would be using to move money to them, and I "pushed" £1 to that account, so that, when I could eventually see it online, I'd be able to check immediately that I was sending money to the right place. I was able to do that before I got the info I needed to access my account online, which speeded things up a tad.

Today I got the info from ICICI that I needed to log on. And yes the £2 is there.

Having logged on, I wanted to see what the current interest rate was. The information about the account led me to believe that the bonus of 0.70% was fixed, but the the actual interest rate on the account was variable (currently 0.65%), which to me meant it could change at any time.

As mentioned by another forumite, there is no way to find the interest rate directly from my account. Clicking through from the account for interest details merely takes you to the site map for the entire website. When I did track down some pages on interest rates, I couldn't find this account mentioned anywhere.

When I phoned, I was told that info wasn't available as part of the online system, and that I needed to look at the page about the account, which is what I looked at when I opened the account. I said that I was concerned this information would disappear when they stopped marketing the account, and then when could I find the interest ratee? I was told categorically that the original base rate of the account will not be changing until the end of the bonus period.

This is supported by this text:
"Get upto 1.35% AER. Rate includes a 0.70% AER fixed rate bonus from 01 February 2018 to 31 January 2019. After this date the rate will revert to our standard variable rate, 0.65% AER variable."
from: http://www.icicibank.co.uk/personal/hisave-accounts/hisave-bonus-saver-series-two.page?

They said they would pass on my request to be able to see the interest rate with my account details when I'm logged. I don't think I was the first to ask for this.

My only other thought is that interest on this account is Monthly, so I'd expect there to be a statement each month. I have a vague recollection that it's now law that they have to show the interest rate on the statement, but I may have made that up!

I notice that their customer support line is available 24/7, which is a bonus, on a local dial number. See: http://www.icicibank.co.uk/personal/faqs/online-banking-help-Faq.page?

Not the easiest of journeys so far. Hoping for an easier ride from now on!

Hoping this info is of use to others.

PS Sent funds from my linked account to ICICI. Funds showed up on their system in a couple of hours. Some bits of their system work just fine!