NEW ICICI Feedback Poll - Has it got any better?

christabell

I found it "impossible" to find anyone who would VALIDATE my name, and address.....each bank I went into said we only do that for our own customers,
Nationwide who I do bank with don't do it at all.
Solicitor wanted 60 pounds........

pipkin_2

ICICI account is now missing from the FOOL`S best savings account list.
I wonder why.

DocProc

I notice New.Egg.com have recently included ICICI HiSAVE as a linkable site within their list of Egg Money Manager compatible financial sites.

Having included it, one can check all one's pertinent financial accounts on just this one site.

You don't have to be an Egg client to use this facility either. Indeed, activate Egg Money Manager from now until April 30th and they will give you £10

PS. If you click on my link above, then when you get to the web site page, look for the 'Make the most of Egg' box at the bottom RHS

Tooglebut456

Sorry this is a new post (I never quite know how to start one of without jumping in the middle of other peoples!) anyway - same subject - I just sent ICI the following email -

Received confirmation of HISAVE account being opened from you by email on 8/2/2006.

Ac. Details are: **********
Login ID *********
Sort Code **********

I have tried to log in several times unsuccessfully in the past with the above details and in conjunction with the 6 digit password you sent me. Can you please help and reply by return of email – thank you

Anybody else having similar problems? I'd appreciate any feedback/help -thanks TB456.

DocProc

If you are using 'copy and paste' to pop your numbers in, do make sure you aren't using any 'spaces'. This does mess things up as, eg, 'space123456' is just not the same as '123456'.

Nice to see in your post how you have spotted the difference and that 'Login ID' is NOT the ICICI Account Number.

A phone call to the CS will allow one of their staff to talk you through the account access mechanism. If that doesn't get you in, then they might even send you out a new password. Do give it a try. They can sometimes be very knowledgable and helpful and might shock you by not being as black as they have been painted on here.

Heinz

It looks like it's been a while since anyone applied to open an ICICI Bank savings A/C and reported back on their experiences.

OK. I'll do it.

(1) 9/5/06 - applied online this morning after clicking on Martin's link.

(2) 9/5/06 - email acknowledgement of online application received within 15 minutes.

(3) 10/5/06 email received 17:00 advising application verification complete and asking I send a cheque on the nominated current account as the initial deposit. £1 cheque posted a.m. 11/5/06.

(4) 15/5/06 email received 14:40 advising the cheque had been received, the account had been opened (Sort Code, A/C number and Login ID details were included) and that the login password would be sent by post.

(5) 16/5/06 - BACS transfer of £1.01 from my A&L current A/C (to leave 16/5/06) set up.

(6) 16/5/06 - Two DD mandates (probably one for me and one for the OH) now showing on my A&L current A/C.

(7) 18/5/06 - Passwords arrived in post. Login shows the £1 cheque (3) having been credited on 15/5/06. A/C correctly shows A&L A/C as the 'linked A/C'.

(8) 19/5/06 - £1.01 BACS transfer (5) shown as having arrived in the ICICI A/C.

(9) 22/5/06 - large (BACS) transfer from Cahoot to ICICI scheduled.

(10) 25/5/06 - the BACS transfer from Cahoot shown as arriving in ICICI today.

I'll stop with the reports now - as far as I can see, ICICI is not better or worse than any of the others I've used with regard to speed of transactions etc.

As Martin says though, the higher interest rate is the winner.

santana-mx3

Further to Heinz's post, here's how it went for me:

29/04/06 Online application completed. Confirmation email received.

02/05/06 Email received "verifying your application details you meet our account opening requirements" and requesting cheque from my current account to be sent to them. Cheque posted to them same day.

04/05/06 Email received: "We have received your cheque and your HiSAVE Savings Account has been opened. Following are your account details........While your Login ID is mentioned above, for security reasons your password will be sent to you by post. "

07/05/06 £1 test BACS set up from Cahoot savings (to leave 08/05/06 as I missed the 4pm deadline).

09/05/06 Password received in the post and login successful. My £1 opening cheque is shown as being credited on 4/5/06.

11/05/06 Online transfer sent from Cahoot Savings on 08/05/06 now shown as credited today.

11/05/06 £1 test BACS sent from Nationwide.

16/05/06 Online transfer sent from Nationwide on 11/05/06 now shown as credited yesterday.

pricehunter

My experience of opening a HiSAVE account was the same as santana-mx3's regarding the time interval for each stage except for the initial transfer which took at least 14 days. I use the words 'at least' because I gave up monitoring after the 14th day.

On the 8th day since initiating a transfer, I sent an email to ICICI seeking an explanation for the delay as I expected 2 to 3 working days. It was becoming stressful as I had my funds sitting in my bank account. I gave up on ICICI and I wanted to transfer my money to an alternative Building Society, but if I did that and then have ICICI action the transfer later, I'd be overdrawn.

They replied to my email after 6 days and I'm now relieved to see the funds have (at last) been transferred. They informed me that it usually takes 3 to 4 working days to transfer funds and that the first direct debit funds transfer takes an additional 5 working days.

Most of us will transfer money from a Building Society to the linked Bank Account which pay little or no interest so I would advise that your initial transfer be small like your opening cheque otherwise you'll risk loosing interest by having your funds sitting in your bank account.

My experience with ICICI has been disappointing. In comparison to others, I find them inefficient and slow to respond to email. This is not good particularly when money and trust is involved. Their web site looks in need of a face lift and will currently not win any awards for design. It shouldn't make any difference but a good appearance can be reassuring.

At the moment I've decided not to invest all of what I originally intended with ICICI even though I believe they are a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Some of us may need efficiency when it comes to getting our hands on our savings. Hopefully the following transfers will be quicker and in time my confidence in ICICI will grow.

Good Luck!

anniecave

I opened an account a month or so ago. It took a little while to wait for the cheque to be received and them to send me a PIN but since then everything's really quick.
I notice it takes longer the first time you try to pay into the account via Direct Debit from your linked account, but that's obviously just the time taken to set up a DD via the system.
It's also only seems to take 2 days for money to go in between this account and my current account or vice versa, if transferring by BACS, rather than the usual 3 days, which is good!
I'd recommend this account anyway!

EagerLearner

I have opened an ICICI account and it all went very well - has taken less than 5 working days and just waiting for my (posted) password now to access the online account and also to add the HiSave account to EggMoney Manager. I'd rate the experience 9/10 so far, 10/10 if the password arrives tomorrow!

EagerLearner