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ICICI Bank has launched India’s first comprehensive digital ecosystem for all Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, including customers of other banks.
Speaking on the launch, Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, “We at ICICI Bank always believe that the MSME segment forms the backbone of the Indian economy. It has been our philosophy to enhance ‘the ease of doing business for MSMEs and become partners in their growth.”
“We have found out from our research that MSMEs understand the benefits that technology brings in. They are keen to adopt digital solutions to simplify their way of doing business so that they can focus more on growth. MSMEs also need a holistic platform that meets all their requirements. Further, we believe that the benefits of our products and services should not be restricted only to our customers; those who bank with others should also have the choice to experience them,” he said.
“Based on these insights, we have launched a comprehensive digital ecosystem with open architecture by bundling banking services with value-added offerings to empower MSMEs, estimated to be around six crores. We believe that these solutions for MSMEs will improve efficiency and boost their business,” Bagchi further added.
MSMEs, who are customers of other banks, can avail of a host of services from the Bank’s digital ecosystem by logging in as a ‘Guest’ in the new version of InstaBIZ. The most important in the list of these services is the sanction of instant and paperless overdraft facilities up to Rs. 25 lakh. Named ‘InstaOD Plus’, the industry-first proposition enables customers of any bank to avail of an overdraft instantly through a few clicks either on the new version of InstaBIZ or CIB. Customers of ICICI Bank can activate the OD into their current account instantly while customers of other banks can do so after the opening of a current account with the Bank digitally through Video KYC.
Another important facility being offered is the instant opening of a current account digitally. The end-to-end paperless process leverages the Bank’s advanced APIs that auto-fill the account opening form and validate PAN/ Aadhaar number instantly and allows the opening of an account through Video KYC.
Additionally, to further accelerate growth and efficiency for MSMEs, InstaBIZ now offers a range of value-added services to MSMEs, both customers, and non-customers of the Bank. ICICI Bank has tied up with various partners to eliminate the need for MSMEs to coordinate with multiple experts to fulfill their varied requirements.
These partners include India Filings (for business compliances and registrations), IndiaMART (listing of business), Airtel (connectivity and business communications), ClearTax (tax filing and advisory), Zoho Books (accounting solutions), Global Linker (business networking and digital store management), Sherlock.ai (digital marketing and data analytics). MSMEs can get exclusive services from these experts with instant onboarding on their platforms.
Further, MSMEs, both customers, and non-customers of the Bank can also access the Bank’s digital platform, Trade Emerge, for comprehensive trade services like a letter of credit, bank guarantee, trade credit, trade transactions, and many others.
Additionally, through InstaBIZ, merchants, retailers, and professionals like doctors and lawyers, etc can instantly accept payments through UPI and cards. They can generate QR codes and even digitally apply for Point of Sale (POS) devices. They can also avail of value-added services like instant settlement of payments, transform their shops into an online store in just 30 minutes, and apply for a voice-messaging device that confirms the receipt of the payments.
The digital ecosystem offers enhanced services to the existing customers of the Bank. They can now experience seamless onboarding on the Bank’s Trade Online platform for their requirement related to trade and foreign exchange transactions. They can also pay GST easily and digitally, and apply for POS devices, among others. Armed with robust technology and embedded analytics, the new version of the InstaBIZ app gives a variety of reminders based on the customer’s profile. For instance, a customer with a propensity to pay GST will get intuitive nudges for GST payments before the last date of payment; an exporter/importer will get a nudge requesting activation of Trade Online, and a merchant will get a pop-up for applying POS device digitally.