Our commitment towards social empowerment and a financial ecosystem accessible to all
ICICI Bank recognises the importance of effective engagement with its key stakeholders for a mutually beneficial relationship and value creation in the long run. These relationships are indispensable for fulfilling business objectives. The Bank aims to have a transparent and ethical relationship with all its stakeholders and engages with them through multiple mediums. These engagements have enabled the Bank to derive insights into the needs of stakeholders and develop appropriate responses.
Customers
Mode of engagement
- Interaction with employees
- Structured surveys for seeking feedback
- Meets organised at branches
- Communication through print, digital and social media
- Multiple channels available for raising queries and grievances
Areas of importance
- Convenience
- Responsive, skilled and considerate staff
- Availability of relevant products and services
- Quick response to issues raised through grievance redressal mechanisms
Bank’s response
- Being 'Fair to Customer, Fair to Bank' is a core element of the Bank’s approach
- Ensure right-selling of products
- Dedicated customer service team focussed on improving process efficiencies and leveraging technology to improve response time to customers
- Continuous upskilling and knowledge building of staff
- Policy of zero tolerance to unethical conduct by employees
Shareholders/
Investors
Mode of engagement
- Annual General Meeting
- Periodic meetings
- Conference calls
- Investor conferences
Areas of importance
- Shareholder value creation
- Medium and long-term strategy
- Governance and ethical practices
- Compliance
- Transparency
- Disclosure of non-financial metrics pertaining to sustainability
Bank’s response
- Increased interaction with investors during the year
- Non-financial disclosures included in the Annual Report by adopting the Integrated Reporting framework
- Communicating on strategic objectives during the quarterly results call with investors and increased disclosures
Employees
Mode of engagement
- Continuous engagement
- Periodic communication meetings anchored by senior leaders
- Initiatives like 'Huddle', 'Engage your Leader' and field visits and e-visits, by managers and senior leaders
- 'iCare', an online portal for employees to raise queries
Areas of importance
- Enabling work culture with opportunities for growth and learning
- Meritocracy
- Employee alignment to common organisation goals
- Responsive grievance handling process
Bank’s response
- Saath Aapka (which means 'With You') value proposition for employees
- Responsibilities given early on in career
- Focussed leadership and career mobility programmes
- Care for employees through leave policies and work from home options catering to their different needs including life-stage needs.
Regulators
Mode of engagement
- Periodic meetings with regulatory bodies
- Participation in policy forums
- Other forms of communication like emails, letters, etc.
- Supervisory meeting
Areas of importance
- Compliance with rules and regulations
- Fair treatment of customers
- Role in development of the financial system
- Banks acting as first line of defence against financial crimes
Bank’s response
- Compliance culture driven by senior leadership
- A dedicated team for communicating with regulators and responding to them in a time-bound manner
- Well-defined processes and leveraging technology to improve response to regulators
Society
Mode of engagement
- ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation)
- Corporate social responsibility projects of the Bank
- Rural development initiatives
- Supporting government initiatives
Areas of importance
- Contributing to social development
- Financial literacy and improving access to financial services especially in rural areas
Bank’s response
- Skill training programmes and efforts at providing sustainable livelihood opportunities through ICICI Foundation
- Industry-academia partnerships for developing skills for the banking sector
- Awareness drives and disseminating information through products like 'Mera iMobile' for rural customers
Note: The listing of areas of importance are not as per the order of importance to the stakeholder
The Bank has a rich legacy of partnering in India’s socio-economic development. Its focus has been to create a positive impact on society by undertaking meaningful interventions to bring significant benefits to large sections of the society. This has been enabled through ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth (ICICI Foundation) that has focussed on addressing critical gaps in the availability of workforce possessing the right skills.
Promoting Inclusive Growth
Promoting inclusive growth has been an overarching focus of the Bank for many years. The Bank has made significant contributions especially in the areas of skill development training and rural development. The Bank strongly believes that skill training is an important factor towards securing India’s economic growth. The skill development training efforts of ICICI Bank largely target less-privileged youth in rural and urban areas, helping them to gain employable skills and improve livelihoods, thus bringing them into mainstream economic activities. This initiative is being driven through ICICI Foundation.
ICICI Foundation was established in 2008 for further strengthening the efforts of ICICI Group towards meeting its corporate social responsibility. ICICI Foundation’s efforts are managed by an in-house team with direct project implementation capabilities. The focus on enabling sustainable livelihoods through skill development training gained momentum with the setting up of the ICICI Academy for Skills in October 2013. Currently, ICICI Foundation works on various programmes on vocational skill development with the objective of developing the capabilities of individuals so that they can earn a sustainable livelihood for their families. Apart from skill development, these programmes support the trainees by facilitating job opportunities or providing market linkages.
ICICI Foundation operates 26 skill development training centres under ICICI Academy for Skills in 19 states. These centres provide industry-relevant, job-oriented training on a pro bono basis in 12 technical disciplines and office skills. With a comprehensive approach which ensures employment opportunities for all successful trainees, these centres are equipped with state-of-the- art practical labs to support and enhance learning.
The training also includes modules on financial literacy and life skills. ICICI Academy for Skills opened two new centres – one each in Dehradun and Gorakhpur – during fiscal 2019. A significant achievement of this programme is that 100% of the trainees who had opted for job placement had found suitable employment with various organisations.
ICICI Foundation manages two RSETIs at Udaipur and Jodhpur with 16 satellite centres in Rajasthan. These centres train on skills based on the local market requirements. This has significantly improved livelihood opportunities for the trainees through self-employment. The ICICI RSETIs have been recognised as the top performing RSETIs in India for six consecutive years by the Ministry of Rural Development and the National Centre for Excellence of RSETIs.
OFFICE-IN-CHARGE
AT HYDERABAD
Shirdisha, a resident of Madasuvaripalem in Andhra Pradesh, was only 24 years old when her husband passed away. She was devastated. A homemaker from a less-privileged background, she had no skills or money to fend for her two young sons and herself.
When Shirdisha joined the 'Office Administration' course for free at ICICI Academy for Skills, Vijaywada, she was a shy and reticent person. She had never operated a computer in her life. Over the next three months, she became proficient at operating computers, polished her communication skills and transformed into a skilled professional.
Today, Shirdisha works as an Office-In-Charge at Hyderabad and draws a decent monthly salary. She is confident of giving her sons access to opportunities that she never had. Young women in her village look up to her as a role model.
DAIRY FARMER IN LUDHIANA
Dilbagh Singh and his family are residents of a small village Kular in Ludhiana district. His only source of income were two cows. With a meagre income of ` 150 per day, Dilbagh was struggling to support his family of four.
A depressed Dilbagh enrolled in the free 'Dairy Farming and Vermicomposting' course run by ICICI Foundation. He has not looked back since then. Today, Dilbagh runs a sprawling dairy farm with over 25 milch animals. His earnings have grown by leaps and bounds and his farm stands out as a model in Kular. Dilbagh has lofty ambitions for the future.
Apart from providing skill development for youth focussing on wage employment opportunities, there is a significant need to improve livelihood opportunities for rural population so that they can earn a sustainable livelihood in their ecosystem and do not need to migrate to cities. The rural initiative was specifically designed for improving the local village economy. Till March 31, 2019, ICICI Foundation had provided skill training to local residents in over 1,200 villages.
The Rural Initiatives of ICICI Foundation involve providing short-duration skill training in locally relevant trades and facilitating market linkages so that the trainees are able to sell their produce on a sustainable basis. The aim is to make efforts in these villages that can lead to a meaningful increase in the livelihood of the villagers. An initial study of the local economy is made in order to understand the economic strengths and critical gaps that are impacting the productivity in the village. ICICI Foundation then designs critical interventions with a focus on improving the productivity and marketability of the produce in the villages. This is done by providing practical training on best practices in the local trade to the villagers. As the trainees get organised and there is a marketable quantity of a product available locally, ICICI Foundation then facilitates market linkages for the trainees. Through these efforts, it is seen that better sharing of market information and direct access to market has resulted in better price realisation for the villagers. It has also promoted local entrepreneurship among women.
The cumulative number of people trained through these three initiatives crossed 400,000 by March 31, 2019.
Other activities of ICICI Foundation include organising blood donation camps and 'Daan Utsav' which provides a platform to employees and customers to donate towards charitable causes. ICICI Foundation also undertakes other community initiatives like organising awareness drives on hygiene and energy conservation. During fiscal 2019, ICICI Foundation planted over 35,000 native trees across the country with community ownership.
ICICI Foundation was awarded the first prize at the Green Kaizen Competition conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry – Zonal Council Pune for innovative and frugal inventions by the trainees of ICICI Academy for Skills. ICICI Foundation was also awarded the CSR Leadership Award at the Corporate Social Responsibility Summit and Awards 2018 for innovative implementation of CSR project at Girwar village in Rajasthan. Other awards won by the ICICI Foundation include:
- Winner of Innovative Best Practices Award: Gender Equality Summit 2019
- Silver Award at the Quality Council of India-DL Shah Quality Award 2018
- Winner at Indian Chamber of Commerce Social Impact Awards
- Business Excellence and Innovative Best Practices Academia Award – 2019 by the New Delhi Institute of Management
- Winner of Gold Category in Foundation Sector by GreenTech Foundation
Total number of individuals trained till date
% of women trainees
No. of villages covered
No. of states covered
Individuals trained in fiscal 2019
Supporting the rural economy has been a critical focus of the Bank to create significant dividends for the Indian economy. With a large population engaged in agricultural activities in the rural areas, the Bank has been providing financial solutions for the rural customers. In addition, there are specific initiatives that are addressing key segments of the population. The Self Help Group (SHG) programme is one such initiative through which the Bank provides a comprehensive suite of banking products, including zero-balance savings account and term loans for meeting business requirements of the women of these SHGs. This has promoted entrepreneurship among women. The Bank offers services at their doorstep, thus saving their time and money on visits to the branch. ICICI Bank is also organising financial literacy camps and has set up dedicated service desks at select branches to guide SHGs on banking procedures. There has been a gradual rise in entrepreneurial ventures by women in the areas where the Bank has been providing services to SHGs.
Till March 31, 2019, the Bank has provided loans to over 5.2 million women beneficiaries through 440,000 SHGs. Of these, over 2.5 million women were ‘first time borrowers’, who had not taken a loan from any formal financial institution. In addition to direct customers, the Bank reaches out to about 0.6 million customers by lending to Micro Finance Institutions.
ICICI Bank also provides lending to Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) which are semi-formal groups from the weaker sections of society. In addition to direct efforts, the Bank has tied up with over 500 non-government organisations called Self Help Promoting Institutions (SHPIs). These SHPIs are empanelled as business correspondents and work towards delivering credit and other banking products. The Bank also offers credit related services to microfinance companies that are providing financial services to the rural population.
As part of the financial inclusion efforts of the Bank, over 21 million Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts (BSBDA) were opened at March 31, 2019. Of these, around 4.0 million accounts were opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The Bank encourages and enables these account holders to transact digitally. ICICI Bank is also promoting government schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana for providing life insurance, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana for providing accident insurance and Atal Pension Yojana for providing pension benefits. As at March 31, 2019, a total of 4.8 million customers had been enrolled under these three Jan Suraksha Yojana (JSY) schemes.
Meeting the complete financial requirements of customers and their ecosystem is a strategic focus in the Bank’s rural business. An example of this approach is the financial solution provided to farmers and other participants of the dairy ecosystem. This includes providing a suite of financial solutions including term loans and working capital loans to dairy unions, payment solutions and promoting investments into animal husbandry. These solutions are supplemented by providing skill training through ICICI Foundation. The Bank has reached over 21,000 farmers to invest into animal husbandry valued at ` 1,290.0 million and tied-up with 1,243 number of Village Level Cooperative Societies (VLCS) with about 0.13 million members.
ICICI Bank has introduced a comprehensive suite of financial services to promote investments into animal husbandry, digitise dairy units and provide payment solutions to enable milk societies to transfer payments directly into the milk suppliers’ accounts. This has helped dairy farmers to manage their working capital needs. ICICI Foundation supplemented these solutions by providing skill development training in dairy farming and vermicomposting. The programme has successfully powered the dairy ecosystem of some villages in India.
The Bank has been complementing the efforts of the central government and the state governments, in bringing about sustainable changes and supporting social development. The efforts of the Bank range from enabling end-to-end digital payment solutions for critical projects, participating in pilot projects as a financial service provider, creating IT solutions for strengthening e-governance and supporting initiatives for promoting health and education. Some important engagements are as follows:
This is a customisable digital platform created by the Bank for State Government departments and Institutions to enable just-in-time payments to beneficiaries, associated agencies, contractors or vendors, etc. The solution provides a wide range of e-Governance modules ranging from project management, progress tracking & control, budget management, dashboard, reports/analytics and online payments and reconciliation of transactions. Currently, we are associated with five state departments across India.
e-NAM is a unified online trading platform for agricultural commodities enabling direct engagement between buyers and sellers. The platform allows real-time price discovery across 585 agricultural market centres and is likely to benefit over 15.5 million farmers and 120,000 registered traders. ICICI Bank has been actively involved since the inception of e-NAM and has provided digital payment and settlement solutions.
This is an urban development initiative of the Government of India. ICICI Bank is closely associated with this programme and is working closely with various 'Smart Cities' for providing digital collection and payment platforms. ICICI Bank is one the leading banks for developing Common City Payments Solution (CCPS), a citizen-centric solution for promoting cashless and digital transactions of tax payments, parking, utilising transit services across city buses, metros, supermarket or retail purchases, toll payment, etc. ICICI Bank has successfully implemented CCPS at three smart cities.
Other efforts in the Smart Cities Mission are oriented towards easing the complexities of the Smart City administration across bill collection of various utilities, reconciliation and effective monitoring of various ongoing development projects for live project updates and just-in-time payments for vendors or contractors, e-challan collections, smart toll collections on highways, smart cash less parking collection solution, besides other offerings like government to government, government to citizen and government to business fund transfer solutions, e-governance solutions and many more smart solutions leveraging the Bank’s digital capabilities and expertise. ICICI Bank’s efforts at some of the Smart Cities Mission are helping scale up digital transactions and fostering competitiveness and benchmarking across smart cities.
ICICI Bank is one of the leading banks integrated with the PFMS platform set up by the Office of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure and Ministry of Finance. The system enables efficient flow of funds for central government projects. ICICI Bank supports all three channels of payments, i.e., Print Payment Advice, Corporate Internet Banking and Digital Signature Certificate for account-based and Aadhaar-based transaction processing. In its capacity as a sponsor bank to government departments and implementing agencies, ICICI Bank is processing payments for more than 40 schemes in 25 states. In fiscal 2019, the Bank had processed more than 50 million transactions. As a partner bank, ICICI Bank has also been conducting workshops and providing training to government departments and agencies for seamless and quick migration to the PFMS platform. The Bank has also created a mobile application and setup a dedicated PFMS helpdesk with e-mail and call support to handle day-to-day, transaction-related queries.