Step Aside

Shadow that is cast on technology

March 16, 2009 at 11:09 am (consumer finance, technology) (axis bank, bankbazaar, cleartrip, home loans, icici bank)

It has been quite a journey for all of us in the startup so far. And figure what, we seem to have reached a milestone. Although Axis Bank has been trying desperately to demonstrate themselves as a bank that is very much capable of taking on the likes of ICICI when it comes to technology and customer service, in reality, it is very difficult for a large bank as Axis especially with long tradition, to break out of regular habits. Since ICICI started out as a bank that would culturally embrace technology and use that as a key differentiator to capture the market, they made extremely good progress. It is an altogether different story as to why ICICI is disliked by borrowers today. People should just think about those days when they had to wait for god knows how long in the banks to meet with those so called executives who would process their home loans. It was ICICI that transformed the picture totally by way of redefining customer service. Customers can be the King, but after all they have to pay for one thing or another. Even today, a typical home loan processing would take excruciatingly long time with the so called transparent(?) public sector bank.

Coming back to the topic of Axis Bank, they are one such bank which is not a public sector bank technically, but one with such an outlook. When it comes to home loans, Axis is one of the banks with such a wider geographical coverage and with so much cash in hand. BankBazaar.com is a financial portal doing wonders in the loan market by providing real time quotes. This apparently could be done by integrating with banks to an extent and automating that part of the operations which decides on the interest rate for a particular profile. Now what does it take to provide more options to the customers? Well, if it is possible to integrate with Bank X, then it should be quite trivial to integrate with Bank Y. Apparently, that is not really easy with banks like Axis. When it comes to breaking traditions, everyone becomes suspicious. And when it is not a trusted player with track record who is insisting on adopting different culture, it is only natural to become defensive and play devil’s advocate. Finally Axis is an option that is available on BankBazaar.com if you are looking for home loans. Now that Axis has broken the tradition, other such banks in the category of Axis would want unshackle themselves as well. And it is hard not to think what the reaction of public sector banks would be like, for such a proposal. On a similar note, IRCTC has been exceptional and redefined train reservations. But it is not difficult to imagine how much hardship Cleartrip.com would have undergone to persuade IRCTC to build APIs. It is quite the same case everywhere. A complete cultural shift is happening right now. Today we are solving the problem of technological adoption by traditional service providers. This silent revolution can only be delayed by those who do not understand the potential of technology. The inevitable truth is that technology redefines customer service and that is going to be crucial for any business to survive.