ICICI Bank 2013 Annual Report Download - page 42

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ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
During fiscal 2013, the economic environment remained challenging with growth slowing down globally.
India was impacted by both global and domestic events that led to moderation in economic activity. India’s
gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.0% during the first nine months of fiscal 2013 as compared to
6.6% during the corresponding period of fiscal 2012. The Central Statistical Organisation, in its advance
estimates, has projected GDP to grow by 5.0% during fiscal 2013 compared to growth of 6.2% in fiscal
2012. Banking sector non-food credit growth moderated from 16.8% at March 23, 2012 to 14.0% at
March 22, 2013. Deposit growth remained subdued at 14.3% with demand deposits recording a growth
of 5.9% at March 22, 2013. Amidst these short term challenges, the Bank continued to stay focused on
the long-term prospects of the Indian economy and build capabilities for future growth. We believe that
the strong underlying fundamentals of the Indian economy with a young population will support strong
growth over the medium to long term, and our strategy revolves around prudently managing short term
challenges while being prepared to meet the needs of a vibrant economy.
For a discussion of recent economic and regulatory developments, please refer to “Management’s
Discussion & Analysis”.
BUSINESS REVIEW
During fiscal 2013, the Bank’s strategy focused on balancing growth, profitability and risk management
while continuing to invest in growing its franchise and enhancing customer convenience. Despite a
challenging macroeconomic environment we made significant progress with sustained improvements in
our net interest margins, higher return on assets and healthy loan growth with a balanced funding mix.
Retail Banking
We continued to focus on our strategy of “Khayaal Aapka” and building long-term relationship with our
customers. During the year, we launched a loyalty programme “MySavings Rewards”. This programme allows
customers to accumulate reward points on a host of savings account transactions such as bill pay, online
shopping, EMI payments and many more. The programme already has over one million customers who have
started earning reward points. Further, we set up 24x7 fully electronic branches during the year aimed at
providing simple, effortless and convenient banking to our customers. These branches enable customers to
undertake real time transactions like cash deposits, cash withdrawals, cheque deposit, fund transfer, opening
fixed deposits, generating bank statement and other transactions. These branches are also equipped with
video conferencing facility which allows with customer service staff interaction when required.
During the year, we harnessed digital channels innovatively for customer acquisition, customer
interactions and cross selling of products and strengthened our presence in this space. We enhanced
the product suite offered through our internet banking platform and customised it to meet requirements
of different customer segments. Our mobile banking application has also grown and currently has over
one million customers. We have emerged as the market leader in mobile transactions in value terms. We
also pioneered social media-linked products during fiscal 2013 like Facebook banking and iWish, an online
flexible recurring deposit. iWish is an innovatively designed product, launched for the first time in India,
where a customer saves funds to fulfil a future desire or goal. The customer has the flexibility to decide
on when and how much to save for the particular goal. They can also share their goals on Facebook with
friends and family who may choose to contribute towards the purpose. Further, for customers who prefer
to transact online, we enhanced our savings account portfolio with the offering of “b2”, a fully online
savings account. b2 targets the rapidly growing internet savvy Indian population and offers an effortless
banking experience.
Business Overview