Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Today I received my welcome package in the mail from ICICI Bank Canada. It contained a welcome letter with my account number, as well as 4 brochures: service charges, account terms & conditions, filing a complaint, and protecting your privacy. The welcome letter stated that my online banking password would be sent in a separate letter.
I went to the ICICI website and used the “Forgot password” feature to access my account right away. My money is in the account, and my account from a different financial institution seems to be successfully linked.
Summary of dates:
July 22, 2007: I fill out the online application form
July 23, 2007: I mail a cheque from my account in order to open ICICI account
July 31, 2007: I get an e-mail informing me that my account has been opened and that I will receive my banking ID once I send the cheque (I ignore this e-mail as I’ve already sent the cheque)
August 1, 2007: ICICI cashes the cheque from my account from a different financial institution.
August 3, 2007: Money from the cheque is posted to my ICICI account.
August 9, 2007: Referral bonus of $20 is posted to my ICICI account (because I was referred by an ICICI member and deposited $100, I received the $20 bonus).
August 13, 2007: I receive a call from an ICICI rep telling me that my account is active and I will be receiving my welcome package soon in the mail.
August 14, 2007: I receive my welcome package in the mail and use the “Forgot password” feature to access my account immediately.
August 21, 2007: I receive my online account password in the mail, although this is no longer needed…
Success! After I explore the online interface, I will post a review of that 
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
Edit: here’s my review of the online interface
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| DESIGN BY
So would you say your experience was good? How does it compare to your other experiences with high interest savings accounts with other institutions?
Comment by Leah Tse — August 16, 2007 @ 10:35 am
Well, I didn’t have to bug them at all, as other reviews have suggested. Therefore, my only gripes is that it took a while to set up the account — if the notifications were a bit more accurate, I wouldn’t have minded.
I still haven’t officially received my Internet banking password in the mail, but luckily once you have your customer ID, you can get your password using the “forgot password” feature.
I have much lower expectations for ICICI compared to other institutions. All I want is a place to park my money and be able to move it out when needed. If I never have to deal with customer service for this type of account, then I consider that a success. For accounts with more features, I look elsewhere, such as to Citizens Bank
Comment by Peter — August 18, 2007 @ 4:40 pm
thanks for sharing the experience peter.
i found out about this bank and was drawn to the high interest. i do wonder about moving money between the cad and us accounts. it may not be very safe to do so as the us one is not insured by cdic.
i’ll be sending in my check tomorrow, i’ll have plenty of time to decide which type of account to use.
Comment by lawrence — August 31, 2007 @ 12:50 am
Thanks for the summary/timeline of your application. I recently saw an ad on ICICI’s high interest rates and was attracted to it since its higher than the competition, and their US$ acct interest rate is puzzling high at 5%! As per your comments/reasons, I’m basically doing the same thing – parking my money til I need it. Based on the time it took you to get everything started, I think I will start my application sooner than later!
Cheers.
Comment by Salty Bob — September 25, 2007 @ 8:45 am
Well, I was gonna sign up and although their site says the interest rate is 4.5%, when I try to sign up I’m taken to this page: http://www.icicibank.ca/personalbanking/applynow.htm
And here it says the interest rate is 3.75% … if it’s 3.75, I’d rather go with Manulife at 4%
Comment by Kam — October 7, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
I’ve been an ICICI customer for 3 years but as of today, no more!
Here is a copy of a letter I sent to their Ombudsman today;
In late February of 2008 I made my RRSP contribution for the 2007 fiscal year. The transaction was completed successfully and so I patiently waited for my tax receipt to arrive so that I could send off my documents to my accountant for the 2007 tax year. A month passes and still no tax receipt!
On last Thursday (April, 3rd) I called ICICI customer service to inquire about my tax receipt and find out why there has been such a long delay in getting it to me. The CSR apologized for the delay and promised me that I would receive my tax receipt via email within 48 hours.
By Tuesday of this week (April, 8th) I still had not received the email so I called again. This time the CSR went over all my information (address, postal code, email address) and verified it was correct (which it was) and said he was “escalating” the matter to the “highest authorities” and promised that I would receive the email within 24 hours.
Twenty four hours passed (April, 9th) and still no email! I called again only to hear the same script being read to me (I know this is so because the CSR actually had to wait for the page to come up on her computer screen before she could reply to my question and her response was identical, word for word, to what I had previously been told). I asked to speak to a supervisor and was denied. I was told the matter was being “escalated” again and that I would simply have to wait another 24.
I am writing you at 6:30 PM today, April 10th, as 24 hours have elapsed again and still no email or receipt! I called again today at 1:30 PM and was put through the same charade! The same response word for word.
THIS IS NOT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!! THIS IS CUSTOMER DISSERVICE.
I have had issues with ICICI’s customer service in the past but this is the worst service I have ever received from any bank I’ve ever dealt with.
I will never make my RRSP contribution through ICICI bank in the future and I’m seriously considering closing all my accounts with ICICI. The extra 1/2 percent in interest simply does not cover the time wasted and aggravation of dealing with such lack of customer service!
Just to add insult to injury, While I was on hold waiting for a CSR I heard a recording stating that ICICI Bank was offering a 4.1% interest rate on a 1 year GIC. When I asked about transferring funds from my savings account to a 1 year GIC at that rate I was told that the rate had been changed to 3.9 % in March. That effectively means you’ve been falsely advertising a rate you’re not prepared to honor for a full month!
Enough is enough.
There you have it, My ICICI Bank experience.
Comment by JJ — April 10, 2008 @ 3:58 pm