Viden Io Summer Internship Report HDFC Bank Summer Internship Final End Report PDF
Viden Io Summer Internship Report HDFC Bank Summer Internship Final End Report PDF
Viden Io Summer Internship Report HDFC Bank Summer Internship Final End Report PDF
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Summer Internship
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Report
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By- Aparna Agarwal (171406)
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3 JULY 2018
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HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE CORPORATION (HDFC)
BANK
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C 7/ 39 B, Maidagin Road, opposite Ramkatora Petrol Pump,
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Lahurabir, IFSC: HDFC0001087
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh - 221001
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Summer Internship Report, IMNU
PROJECT TITLE
SEGMENTATION AND PENETRATION
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WRITTEN FOR
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE CORPORATION (HDFC) BANK
PREPARED FOR
Institute of Management,
Nirma University,
Ahmedabad - 382481
SUBMITTED TO
Faculty Guide and Mentor- Prof. Bhoomi Mehta
Pan- India Talent Acquisition Head of HDFC Bank- Ms. Sneha Adidravidar Ramtreke.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Interning with India’s second largest bank, HDFC Bank was a great opportunity and experience
for a fresher. I am thankful to Institute of Management, Nirma University and Placement
Committee as well as Corporate Relations Cell for providing me with this opportunity. A
special thanks to my placement Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Harshit Patwari and Maulik
Raichura, who endured our tantrums and tried their best to make sure we sail through this
journey skillfully without any glitches.
I would like to thank Mr. Vaibhav Tripathi, Branch Manager of HDFC Bank, Lahurabir
branch, Varanasi and Mr. Sudhir Kumar Gupta, Ex- Branch Manager of HDFC Bank,
Lahurabir Branch who guided me throughout the internship and answered all my queries with
patience. I would also like to thank Mr. Vishal Kayal, CA-RM, Mr. Shahid Mushtaque,
Assisstant Branch Manager, Mr. Vinit Upadhyay, RM- Corporate Salary, Mr. Vinay Pandey,
RM- Imperia, Mr. Pranjal Rao, PB Preffered, Ms. Rashmi Gupta, PB-WD, Mr. Nikhil
Mishra, Ex- PB-WD, Mr. Kamlesh Chaurasia, PB Authorizer, Ms. Neetu Singh, Assisstant
Back up Manager, Mr. Abhinav Kaushik and Mr. Emran Siddiqui, Teller and Mrs. Kriti
Chaurasia, Teller Authorizer at the branch for supporting me and believing in me. Some others
who made this journey a learning experience were Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Mr. Abhinav Singh, Mr.
Lovleen Sharma, mr. Rajneesh Rai, Mr. Deepak Singh. Mr. Wadood Siddiqui, Mr. Kushal
Kaushal, Mr. Abhimanyu Singh and Mr. Deepak Chopra.
I also thank my Faculty Mentor Prof. Bhoomi Mehta for her regular guidance and support and
for providing feedback on my work regularly.
I will try to use the experience and learning of the two months in all of my future endeavors.
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project titled “Segmentation and Penetration” for HDFC Bank is an
original work done by me under the guidance of Mr. Vaibhav Tripathi (Corporate Mentor) and
Prof. Bhoomi Mehta (Faculty Mentor, Institute of Management, Nirma University). This report
is in partial fulfillment of degree of Master of Business Administration (Full time) 2017-19 from
Institute of Management, Nirma University.
Aparna Agarwal
Place: Ahmedabad
Date: 03/07/2018
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Contents
WRITTEN FOR .......................................................................................................................... 3
PURPOSE OF THE REPORT .................................................................................................... 3
PREPARED FOR ....................................................................................................................... 3
SUBMITTED TO ....................................................................................................................... 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................. 4
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ 5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 9
PART – A ..................................................................................................................................... 10
A.1. PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION ............................................................................ 10
A.2. JOINING DETAILS ......................................................................................................... 11
A.3. TOP MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ............................................................................. 12
A.4. ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY............................................................................... 13
A.5. PRODUCT PROFILE ....................................................................................................... 15
A.5.1. Savings Account ........................................................................................................ 15
A.5.2. Salary Account ........................................................................................................... 17
A.5.3. Current Accounts ....................................................................................................... 18
A.5.4. Deposits ...................................................................................................................... 20
A.5.5. Rural Accounts ........................................................................................................... 20
A.5.6. Loans .......................................................................................................................... 20
A.5.7. Cards .......................................................................................................................... 21
A.5.8. DMAT Account ......................................................................................................... 21
A.5.9. Investments ................................................................................................................ 21
A.5.10. Insurance .................................................................................................................. 22
A.5.11. Forex ........................................................................................................................ 22
A.5.12. Premier Banking ...................................................................................................... 22
A.5.13. Private Banking ........................................................................................................ 22
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
HDFC Bank Ltd. was established by Mr. Aditya Puri and Mr. Deepak Parekh which is now the
second largest bank in India and is expanding its customer base every day. The bank offers a
variety of products and service for three different customer segments. The financial performance
of the bank is also on a better side in spite of prevailing market conditions.
The report also includes my experience of working as an intern with HDFC bank along with
observations, issues, suggestions and learning. The last part of the report talks about behavior of
consumers with regards to investment decisions. It discusses factors affecting investment
decision, degree of involvement and the process of pitching an investment product to a customer.
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PART – A
The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was amongst the first to
receive an 'in principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the
private sector, as part of RBI's liberalization of the Indian Banking Industry in 1994. The bank
was incorporated in August 1994 in the name of 'HDFC Bank Limited', with its registered office
in Mumbai, India. HDFC Bank commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in
January 1995. In 1994 HDFC Bank was incorporated, with its registered office in Mumbai,
India. Its first corporate office and a full service branch at Sandoz House, Worli were
inaugurated by the then Union Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh.
HDFC is India's premier housing finance company and enjoys an impeccable track record in
India as well as in international markets. Since its inception in 1977, the Corporation has
maintained a consistent and healthy growth in its operations to remain the market leader in
mortgages. Its outstanding loan portfolio covers well over a million dwelling units. HDFC has
developed significant expertise in retail mortgage loans to different market segments and also
has a large corporate client base for its housing related credit facilities. With its experience in the
financial markets, strong market reputation, large shareholder base and unique consumer
franchise, HDFC was ideally positioned to promote a bank in the Indian environment.
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Working Days: odd Weeks – 6 working days and even days – 5 working days (Saturdays off)
Profile: Intern – Segmentation and Penetration in High Net Worth Individual’s Customer Base
Email: [email protected]
Fellow Interns:
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Managing Director
Executive Director
Country Head
Group Head
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Cluster Head
Branch Manager
Branch Sales
Relationship Managers at different portfolios officer (BSo)
Current Account
Personal Bankers and Welcome Desk
Sales officer
(CSo)
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Besides these, customers can avail other features of BSBDA, such as bill payment
options. HDFC Bank also offers special features on BSBDA, such as the option of an
international debit card and safe deposit locker.
The common insurance features for all the saving accounts are:
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HDFC Bank provides for the facility of opening a salary account for the salaried persons.
The different types of salary accounts are:
BSBDA Salary
HDFC Bank offers a range of features on BSBDA (Basic Savings Bank Deposit Small
Account). These include access to our wide network of branches, and various ways to
bank.
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The different profiles of current accounts offered to the general public by HDFC Bank
are:
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Manage cash easily and efficiently with numerous features of Max Current Account at
HDFC Bank and its excellent financial services which creates customer value.
Use our trade finance features of Max Current Account to route import and export
transactions, and get competitive rates. Enjoy speedy clearing features on Max Current
Account for quicker realization of cheques. Benefit from the instant alert features on
Max Current Account, as well as access to our wide network of branches. The free
features on Max Current Account include unlimited demand drafts, RTGS and NEFT
transactions as well as up to 5oo cheque leaves every month.
There are several other current accounts offered by HDFC Bank in India. They are:
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A.5.4. Deposits
Dream Deposit
Regular Fixed Deposit
Recurring Deposit
5 Year Tax Saving Fixed Deposit
overdrafts Against Fixed Deposits
Sweep-In Facility
Safety Deposit Lockers
A.5.6. Loans
Personal Loans
Car Loans
Business Loans
Loan for Professionals
Home Loans
Two Wheeler Loan
Gold Loan
Loan Against Property
Education Loan
Government Sponsored Programmes
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Rural Loans
SmartDraft – overdraft Loans Against Property
SmartDraft – overdraft Loans Against Salary
Loans Against Assets
Consumer Durable Loans
A.5.7. Cards
Credit Cards
Debit Cards
Pre- Paid Cards
Forex Cards
Credit Card Rewards Card
Card for Loan on Credit Cards
A.5.9. Investments
National Pension Systems
Atal Pension Yojna
InvestTrack
Investment Products
Investment Advisory Group Reports
Public Provident Funds
Sukanya Samridhhi Account
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna
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A.5.10. Insurance
Life Insurance
Health and Accident Insurance
Motor Insurance
Travel Insurance
Home Insurance
Two Wheeler Insurance
Student Travel Insurance
Cyber Safety Insurance
A.5.11. Forex
Travel Solutions
Remittance Products
other Forex Services
Forex Cards
Forex Help
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Bank Guarantee online advising for Earnest Money Deposit and Performance Bank
Guarantees
Figure 2: GeM
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A.6.3. SmartHub
SmartHub offers Payment Management solutions to merchants of all sizes, operating across the
most varied industry verticals.
It is a simple to use; reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets
you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction.
FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted. The
tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's
windscreen after the tag account is active.
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A.7.3. Treasury
Within this business, the bank has three main product areas - Foreign Exchange and Derivatives,
Local Currency Money Market & Debt Securities, and Equities. These services are provided
through the bank's Treasury team. To comply with statutory reserve requirements, the bank is
required to hold 25% of its deposits in government securities. The Treasury business is
responsible for managing the returns and market risk on this investment portfolio.
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Revenue 81,6o2
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A.9.1. Vision
HDFC Bank is a young and dynamic bank, with a youthful and enthusiastic team determined to
accomplish the vision of becoming a world-class Indian bank.
A.9.2. Mission
HDFC mission is to be “World Class Indian Bank", benchmarking ourselves against
international standards and best practices in terms of product offerings, technology, service
levels, risk management and audit & compliance. The objective is to build sound customer
franchises across distinct businesses so as to be a preferred provider of banking services for
target retail and wholesale customer segments, and to achieve a healthy growth in profitability,
consistent with the Bank's risk appetite. They are committed to do this while ensuring the highest
levels of ethical standards, professional integrity, corporate governance and regulatory
compliance.
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A.10.1. Strengths
HDFC bank is the second largest private banking sector in India.
HDFC bank is located in 1,174 cities in India and has more than 8oo locations to serve
customers through Telephone banking.
The bank’s ATM card is compatible with all domestic and international Visa/Master card, Visa
Electron/ Maestro, Plus/circus and American Express. This is one reason for HDFC cards to be
the most preferred card for shopping and online transactions
HDFC bank has the high degree of customer satisfaction when compared to other private banks
The attrition rate in HDFC is low and it is one of the best places to work in private banking
sector.
HDFC has lots of awards and recognition, it has received ‘Best Bank’ award from various
financial rating institutions like Dun and Bradstreet, Financial express, Euro money awards for
excellence, Finance Asia country awards etc
HDFC has good financial advisors in terms of guiding customers towards right investments
A.10.2. Weakness
HDFC bank doesn’t have strong presence in Rural areas, where as ICICI bank its direct
competitor is expanding in rural market
HDFC cannot enjoy first mover advantage in rural areas. Rural people are hard core loyal
in terms of banking services.
HDFC lacks in aggressive marketing strategies like ICICI
The bank focuses mostly on high end clients
Some of the bank’s product categories lack in performance and doesn’t have reach in the
market
The share prices of HDFC are often fluctuating causing uncertainty for the investors
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A.10.3. Opportunities
HDFC bank has better asset quality parameters over government banks, hence the profit
growth is likely to increase
The companies in large and SME are growing at very fast pace. HDFC has good
reputation in terms of maintaining corporate salary accounts
HDFC bank has improved it’s bad debts and the recovery of bad debts are high when
compared to government banks
HDFC has very good opportunities in abroad
Greater scope for acquisitions and strategic alliances due to strong financial position
A.10.4. Threats
The non banking financial companies and new age banks are increasing in India
The HDFC is not able to expand its market share as ICICI imposes major threat
The government banks are trying to modernize to compete with private banks
RBI has opened up to 74% for foreign banks to invest in Indian market
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Structure
Systems
Style
Staff
Skills
Strategy
Shared Values
Figure 6: McKinsey's Model
These 7 aspects explain why and how a firm can
above its competitors by strengthening its inner walls of its departments. Let us study each of
them separately in context of HDFC Bank.
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Systems
The system followed by the employees of HDFC Bank was purely systematical and
streamlined in a prescribed fashion. orders used to flow Top- down and the suggestions
used to follow a Bottom Up approach. A clear monitoring of the performance was done
to keep in mind in case the suggestion comes from the bottom level of the pyramid so
that those suggestions if found feasible can be implemented wherever needed.
Style
The working style and work monitoring style was very intimidating. All the employees
had to report their work done offline and online. For offline, a register was maintained
with the names of all the employees and their daily productivity. CRM Next was the
name of the online software in which the account of the banker was made and they had to
keep a track of the activities they have done and also update it on the software.
Staff
All the staff members at HDFC Banks were made to attend the different raining programs
or group bonding exercises whereby they were made to interact with each other rand
bond together as they had to work together and work bonding is more important than
anything in an organization. The staff members were asked to relate to each other’s
problems and in case any problems exist, solve them at their levels howsoever possible.
Skills
As discussed in the points above, the skill set maintenance in an employee is very
important, so the management made sure that every details of the training aspect is
covered by providing for training slots by industry experts every month or in every two
months. Also, if any new changes were to be done, like automation of lockers, there used
to be step by step mail guide was floated to the employees handling the lockers so that in
case any discrepancy was unnoticed in the offline process, it can be easily tracked. Also,
tracking of the account number inked with the lockers is possible. So, these skills were
incorporated in the staffs.
Strategy
The strategy was clear. They wanted to be the premium bank. But when they had a good
product backup team to develop a product, they started to venture into being the premium
bank. With the implementation of Demonetization, they have decided to be the only
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people’s bank. In 2o17, when they read their reports, it was quite clear that the popularity
has reached to every corner of the country and hence, now the aim of the bank is to be the
only banker. They have a wide variety of products and they have added it to their list that
if other banks also collaborate with them to sell their products, it will be an addition to
the HDFC’s backbone.
Shared Values
Transparency, innovation and freedom to employees are the main pillars of HDFC Bank.
In its aim to be a leader in banking World and Insurance Sector as well as promoting
Innovation to be the only banker, it gives space for personal and professional
development and also encourages its employees to think out of the box in serving their
clients, not just for appreciation and ratings, but for selfless intellectual growth also.
In his revolutionary article - "Five Forces that Shape Strategy", Michael Porter observed five
forces that have significant impact on a firm's profitability in its industry. These five forces
analysis today in business world is also known as -Porter Five Forces Analysis. The Porter Five
Forces are -
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Porter Five Forces is a holistic strategy framework that took strategic decision away from just
analyzing the present competition. Porter Five Forces focuses on - how HDFC Bank Limited can
build a sustainable competitive advantage in Foreign Regional Banks industry. Managers at
HDFC Bank Limited can not only use Porter Five Forces to develop a strategic position with in
Foreign Regional Banks industry but also can explore profitable opportunities in whole Financial
sector.
New entrants in Foreign Regional Banks brings innovation, new ways of doing things and put
pressure on HDFC Bank Limited through lower pricing strategy, reducing costs, and providing
new value propositions to the customers. HDFC Bank Limited has to manage all these
challenges and build effective barriers to safeguard its competitive edge.
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How HDFC Bank Limited can tackle the Threats of New Entrants
By innovating new products and services. New products not only brings new customers
to the fold but also give old customer a reason to buy HDFC Bank Limited‘s products.
By building economies of scale so that it can lower the fixed cost per unit.
Building capacities and spending money on research and development. New entrants are
less likely to enter a dynamic industry where the established players such as HDFC Bank
Limited keep defining the standards regularly. It significantly reduces the window of
extraordinary profits for the new firms thus discourage new players in the industry.
All most all the companies in the Foreign Regional Banks industry buy their raw material from
numerous suppliers. Suppliers in dominant position can decrease the margins HDFC Bank
Limited can earn in the market. Powerful suppliers in Financial sector use their negotiating
power to extract higher prices from the firms in Foreign Regional Banks field. The overall
impact of higher supplier bargaining power is that it lowers the overall profitability of Foreign
Regional Banks.
How HDFC Bank Limited can tackle Bargaining Power of the Suppliers
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Buyers are often a demanding lot. They want to buy the best offerings available by paying the
minimum price as possible. This put pressure on HDFC Bank Limited profitability in the long
run. The smaller and more powerful the customer base is of HDFC Bank Limited the higher the
bargaining power of the customers and higher their ability to seek increasing discounts and
offers.
How HDFC Bank Limited can tackle the Bargaining Power of Buyers
By building a large base of customers. This will be helpful in two ways. It will reduce the
bargaining power of the buyers plus it will provide an opportunity to the firm to
streamline its sales and production process.
By rapidly innovating new products. Customers often seek discounts and offerings on
established products so if HDFC Bank Limited keeps on coming up with new products
then it can limit the bargaining power of buyers.
New products will also reduce the defection of existing customers of HDFC Bank
Limited to its competitors.
When a new product or service meets a similar customer needs in different ways, industry
profitability suffers. For example services like Drop box and Google Drive are substitute to
storage hardware drives. The threat of a substitute product or service is high if it offers a value
proposition that is uniquely different from present offerings of the industry.
How HDFC Bank Limited can tackle the Treat of Substitute Products / Services
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If the rivalry among the existing players in an industry is intense then it will drive down prices
and decrease the overall profitability of the industry. HDFC Bank Limited operates in a very
competitive Foreign Regional Banks industry. This competition does take toll on the overall long
term profitability of the organization.
How HDFC Bank Limited can tackle Intense Rivalry among the Existing Competitors
By analyzing all the five competitive forces HDFC Bank Limited strategists can gain a complete
picture of what impacts the profitability of the organization in Foreign Regional Banks industry?
They can identify game changing trends early on and can swiftly respond to exploit the emerging
opportunity. By understanding the Porter Five Forces in great detail HDFC Bank Limited’s
managers can shape those forces in their favor.
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Banking behemoth HDFC Bank sees the “largest opportunity” for its growth to still come out of
India in the coming years and plans to persist with its “omni-channel” strategy to plumb deep
into the growing domestic market, a top official said.
“Will we grow our international business? The answer is yes. However, the largest opportunity
for growth for us is going to be India-centric,” Paresh Sukthankar, Deputy Managing Director,
HDFC Bank, told BusinessLine.
Given how the Indian economy is doing and given that a large part is un-banked or under-
serviced, there is more of an opportunity to tap into within the country, Sukthankar said.
He said that the overall pie was growing and that HDFC Bank, which was growing faster than
industry, was gaining market share from both public sector and foreign banks.
“We want to be a bank that remains focused on both retail and wholesale customer segments. We
will continue to cater to all customer segments end-to-end,” he said.
He also said that growth for HDFC Bank will come from all areas at different rates from
different points of time.
“Different products will have faster or slower growth. Having a diversified portfolio allows us to
grow at more stable growth rate. Being equally well-positioned across customers and
geographies gives us stability for our own growth,” Sukthankar said.
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PART-B
B.1. PROJECT WORK
B.1.1. Type of project: Experiential Learning Project (Type III)
B.1.1.1. Introduction
The title of my project was “Segmentation and Penetration” and I was appointed as an intern at
Retail branch banking. The branch was located in Lahurabir area of Varanasi City Uttar Pradesh
The branch consisted of the major designated employees, in the following hierarchical structure:
Branch Manager
(Mr. Vaibhav Tripathi)
Apart from the above mentioned people, there were several other sub- departments. These are:
Credit Card Department: Ms. Ananya Anand and Mr. Vikash Singh
Insurance Department: Mr. Satyam Rai and Mr. Susheel Singh
Personal Loan Department: Mr. Sanjay Gupta
Car Loan Department: Mr. Sharan Shahpuri
Gold Loan Department: Mr. Rajneesh Rai, Mr. Deepak Singh and Mr. Susheel Kumar
Business Loan Department: Mr. Ramesh Alok Das
E-Commerce Department: Mr. Shailesh Jain
Working Capital Loan Department: Mr. Atif Ahmed
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B.1.1.3. Methodology
1. Ethnographic Study
Ethnographic study is a qualitative type of research methodology where the researcher becomes
an active observer as a part of his/her field work. The researcher interacts with participants,
observes their actions and makes extensive notes during his field work. This type of study
depends mostly on the observation skills of the researcher and how he/she perceives the
environment. To overcome personal biasness, the researcher needs to understand the culture of
the organization and immerse into it completely. He/she also needs to understand nature of
participants in order to make inferences from their actions. An important part of conducting
ethnographic study is maintaining a journal of important events.
2. Maintenance of Journal
The internship commenced with a two-day orientation program at HDFC Bank House,
Ahmadabad where Mr. Ravi Purbey introduced us to the organization. We were enlightened on
who established the bank, when was it established, who played what role in the establishment
and how has the bank evolved over the years. Along with the history and milestones achieved by
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the bank, we were also given basic knowledge about the various services and financial products
offered by the bank. The work culture of the organization was also discussed by giving examples
of certain employees to make us understand what qualities we need to reflect while working. All
the decisions of the bank are taken by keeping their current motto “To be the only bank of their
customers” in center. During the training sessions, a lot of emphasis was also laid on the steps
the bank takes towards digitalizing their transactions and making the maximum use of
technology that is customer-friendly.
The importance and benefits of Know Your Customer (KYC) that is compulsory u/s 181 of
Negotiable Instruments Act was discussed by us. For updation of KYC, customers need to
submit photocopy of their Aadhar card and PAN card. KYC updation serves four purposes:
The Negotiable Instruments Act also signifies important points for cheque collection by all
banks. “Z” principle is to be followed while checking a cheque. As per this principle, details are
to be checked in such a way that it forms a “Z” pattern. Crossing and name, Date, Amount in
words, Amount in figures and signature are to be checked in the mentioned order.
The concept of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) was also explained and how it is important for
preventing money laundering activities and terrorism funding.
The number of employees in each branch varied as per the no. of customers the branch served.
The employee hierarchy generally followed by branches is shown below:
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Regional Head
Cluster Head
Branch
Manager
Personal
Teller Relationship
Banker
Authorizer Manager
Authorizer
Personal
Welcome Desk Teller
Banker
There are branches that served a small set of customers and had only two employees working.
Such branches are called Two-men branches.
Joining as a management intern on 16th April 2o18, I was allocated the role of Project trainee and
the job role allocated was High Net worth Individuals Portfolio Management and Mutual Fund
Acquisition by Segmentation and Penetration into the target market of the existing customer base
as well as aiding to creation of a new customer base by method of field visits and sales pitching
to the walk-ins and walk-outs and tele calling. In the first week of working, I was told to sit at
different counters of the bank branch and learn the over the counter dealing of the customers and
the clients who come in search of the Personal Bankers and the help desk with their different
problems. I learned that any customer who enters the bank is a probable client and the bank is
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liable to serve him in the best possible manner so that the bank can provide him with all the
benefits whichever he demands. I was made to spend time with the Personal Bankers of the bank.
There are different PBs allotted for different purposes and different portfolios. HDFC Bank
maintains four different types of portfolios:
Regular: This is for the regular customers who come into the bank for opening either a
savings account or current account. These customers are treated as normal customers and
are talked as per the same. This portfolio manages a minimum balance of 1o, ooo savings
accounts and a minimum balance of 25, ooo current accounts. These customers are not
expected to reach a very high limit and they are not pestered for the same as well. If the
minimum balance goes below the permissible limit, monthly charges are deducted and
this leads to the discrepancy in the customer’s minds as sometimes they are unaware of
this policy and they tend to lose all their savings in filling these charges. The worst is that
the bank fails to give notifications for the same that the balance I below the allowed limit
and this will lead to charges. Many customers are closing the accounts for the same
reason. Also, the debit cards are chargeable at an annual rental of 59o Rupees per month
which makes it an expensive deal for the person to handle it. These unhappy customers
are moving to Kotak Mahindra and ICICI banks which are their rivals.
Classic: This is the second portfolio. This is the category where the customers are given a
raise from their regular accounts to classic accounts where the perks are high and
expenses are also high. It is not a premium portfolio for the customers but is like the AC
bogie of the train which contains some benefit holing people but is not necessarily that
responsible or responsive but can afford that seat. These accounts are under a different
post person. No PB is allowed to manage the classic customers the way they want and
wish and desire. The classic customers will be handled by the Regional Manager of the
Classic customer who is called the Classic RM or CRM. The CRM is responsible to
tackle all the classic customers of his branch. But he cannot indulge in the matters of the
RM of the other branches. He is only responsible for the Classic customers only. No
other portfolio customers can be handled by him even if he has the knowledge of the
same. The debit card issued to these customers is the same as the one carried by the
Regular customers and its yearly rental is rupees 59o.
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Preferred: These are the customers ranked a little higher than the Classic customers and
as their name suggests, these are the real preferred customers of the branch. These are
near premium customers very likely to be converted to the highest category of Imperia
customers. Preferred customers are the ones who enjoy the mixed benefits of classic and
imperia. These customers have a much high priority than other customers. These
customers are treated nicely as they provide high business to the banks and thus they are
given priority as the business revolves around profits through customer satisfaction in
service industry. These customers are the preferred category customers as they can
maintain a high balance and also, even if they are unable to maintain the balance for 25
days a month but their Average Monthly Balance limit is met at the end of the month,
they will not suffer any penalties or charges cut or reduction in their accounts. Also, these
customers generally visit the branch and thus they are given high priority. Imperia
customers do not generally visit the branch although they are the highest level of star
customers HDFC Bank can get.
Imperia: This is the highest portfolio offered. The customers in this portfolio have to
maintain the best business with the bank as they are the highest priority customers. These
customers can bring the best business to the banks. The bank focuses on giving all the
facilities to these customers so that maximum satisfaction can be provided to them. These
customers have to maintain a fixed balance of a high amount in their accounts with the
bank so that if they derive benefits, they can also provide business. These customers
generally do not show up in the banks and they demand that they wish to avail the door
step services by the banks serving partners. They generally send their representatives to
the branch as they are busy in their schedules. These customers are the best examples of
the way a company’s services can be availed without any technical glitches.
Each of these portfolios is managed by different Relationship Managers and each of this RMs
has the given portfolios under them. These portfolio managers are assigned some assistants under
them and the customer visits are to be done by this RMs or their assistants or both and it has to
be ensured that the customers are properly managed. My role was to stay with the PBs and RMs
and learn banking the way the PB and RM does. Each PB is responsible to report to the PB
authorizer. So I spent my first week with Assistant Backup Manager Mrs. Neetu Singh and Mr.
Vishayal Kayal who is the Assistant Branch Manager and Relationship Manager of the Current
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Account Holders of Branch 1o87, HDFC. After the first week, I began working as an assistant
and trainee PB under the PB- WD Mrs. Rashmi Gupta and her authorizer, Mr. Kamlesh
Chaurasia.
I tried to gel up with the situation and then learn banking the banking way. I learnt the file
maintaining and the customer dealing and pitching also under these PBs. I slowly started to
absorb into the system and started learning the basics of banking with which I was nearly
unaware. I began from observing the customers who meet the Welcome Desk (WD) and the way
they are treated with care and responsibility without the malice of treating them as the third
party. I sat at the WD and learned to understand the needs of the customers and the way each of
them need to be tackled differently. The different customers of different portfolios used to visit at
the WD first asking about the needs they have and then they used to visit the required counters. I
used to see how their needs are to be heard and then tackled differently with respect to different
persons. The problems and the solutions are given as follows:
Opening an account: When the customers used to visit the branch with the expectation
of opening the bank account, they first visit the Welcome Desk and they enquire about
the account opening procedure. Then we need to ask them whether they want current
account or savings account. Also, since HDFC is a private bank, the minimum amount
required to keep in the saving account is Rupees 1oooo and the limit can be raised up to
Rupees 25ooo for being a max customer. The customer can open account at the regular
portfolio and then they can be upgraded as per their balance requirements and cash and
services benefits requirements. The current account needs an amount of minimum Rupees
25ooo to be maintained for the purpose of better liquidity. If the balance goes beyond the
expected amount, the bank charges the account holders for the same after frequent
reminders. The procedure for opening the account t is inclusion of pan card, Aadhaar
card, photograph of the person, person’s mother’s name, fathers name, mobile number,
email ID, nominee details like name, mobile number, relation with the account holder,
date of birth of the nominee and signature of the account holder. This complete the
account opening procedure, but the Aadhaar generated online is not acceptable and in
such a case either a biometric generated Aadhaar is taken out or the e-Aadhaar is
generated online in the presence of the customer using his biometric details or mobile
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number and that Aadhaar is used. If the account opened is a salary account, then the
company should have a corporate tie-up and the company code must be added in the
bank’s list and then the salary account can be opened and the work can be done properly.
Salary account is a form of savings account under product 1o5, 113 and 161. These are
zero balance accounts and any deposit by the account holder is not allowed. only the
company can deposit the salary in that account. For these accounts, the letterhead
recommendation of the company to the bank for opening the account of that employee is
also needed which will be signed by that employee. Also, there is a basic saving and
salary account called the Jan-Dhan Account or BSBDA Account which is opened with an
annexure to that account. All the documents enclosed will need to be self attested.
Closing an account: The customers who need to close their account due to reasons like
their outstanding amount is in negative and this is spoiling their CIBIL Score, or they are
finding it difficult to report it in the ITR every year or they are finding it difficult to
maintain that level of balance or they are in need of funds. Sometimes, when the account
is put to closure, it is due to the dormant situation of the account. In case the amount of
the account in the bank is in negative, and the account is to be put to closure and the
settlement of the account is done either with the need of the customers or with external
force applied by the bank over the customer for settlement, then, the account to be settled
is the last time that person can open an account in that bank. This person can no more
avail the services of HDFC bank. If the customer wishes to close the account, the account
closure form is made to sign by the customer and the amount thereby is to be transferred
to them via cheque payable to self or by a Demand Draft sent to the address. For this, the
account holder needs to meet the Branch Manager and get an application signed by him
giving permission to close that account. After and account is closed, it can no more be
activated again.
Updating the Passbook and printing of statements: Generally, this becomes the fun
time for the customers. They come to get their passbook updated and see the transactions
they have done. They do not check the balance on their net banking. They are adamant on
getting their passbooks updated and then only they will be satisfied. one more thing, the
people are reluctant to open and join their net banking. Also, they are unwilling to pay
instant card rental of Rupees 59o, Rupees 85o or Rupees 12oo but they are also unwilling
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to wait for one week to attain personalized cards. So they get their passbooks updated and
getting the account statements. The account statements can be generated through the
Flexcube software. oracle Flexcube is the name of the software which is used in the bank
for the daily work to be done. Each banking member has their own Flexcube Passwords
which is domain specific and needs to be maintained properly. Every day there are
multiple reports which are to be generated, printed, updated and submitted with the
acknowledgement of the Branch Manager and then the similar updates are to be sent to
the customers as well. Also, if the customers are not to be given the printout of the
statement, then they are sent the statement on their registered mail ID.
Field Visits: Being the intern for Segmentation and Penetration profile, I had to go for
field visits. I first started doing the field visits after completing 22 days at my internship. I
began going to places as far as 25 kilometers a day and getting the work done. I was
made to visit the customers with my PB or my RM, whichever the case may be for the
first few days of my field visits and then I was asked to do the pitching work. Sometimes,
I was introduced as the person in-charge for their accounts for some time to come in the
absence of the PB and RM. I was made to meet and greet the customers and if possible,
generate leads out of those meetings as well. In the beginning, I used to stumble and was
unaware about what has to be done and how to talk to the existing customers so that they
do not feel discomforted or disconnected but then slowly and gradually, I started
understanding from the way my RM or PB used to pitch the points or inculcate business
in between normal talks. This made me more confident and I was able to motivate my
profile customers to show interest in the products pitched. I was told that I should not try
to tell the customers to invest or purchase that product, rather I should tell the customers
that a scheme is launched and the benefits of the products very cleverly so that product
placement is done to make the customers aware and they also do not feel that the product
was placed out of the box without a valid context. I travelled everyday to different
customers and used to try and create the need for a product. Sometimes, my RM or PB,
with whomsoever I used to accompany, used to give me half of their targets to achieve
and I used to travel the places cited and reach the customers holding the tag of HDFC
Bank alone and try to satisfy the consumers in every way they want. For Example, there
was a customer in our branch who had made a fixed deposit in the bank but he had not
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received a printed invoice for the same. Although, we tried to convince him that it was
not needed, still he demanded the printed invoice. His address was around 12 or 13
kilometers away from the bank and he wanted the invoice by the same day in the
evening. Since he was a job holder and his pace of work did not allow any external
person to come inside, and his job got over at 7:3o P.M. and he would reach home by 9:
oo P.M., I was asked to go to his place with the printed invoice and hand it over to him
personally, because it was as he had demanded and he was a preferred customer. He was
very happy with the door step service and being kind at heart, he acknowledged the hard
work HDFC Bank employees put in to help the customers at every point in time.
Similarly, one more incident took place where I was sent alone. our branch had acquired
the Seth M R Memorial Jaipuria Schools at Babatpur and Parao campus. The numbers of
staffs were close to 2oo in both the campuses and the Salaried Accounts of all those
customers had to be opened in our bank branch. I was sent with my BSO on the first day
to introduce me to the authorities and the employees with some forms and some kits to
open some accounts and learn the process. We brought back 8 complete forms with kits
issued and all the other forms were to be completed and then submitted to be sent to the
WBO for approval and account opening as soon as possible as it was mid of the month
and the salary was to be credited in all the accounts. Seth M R Jaipuria Schools had their
salary accounts in Punjab National Banks but they had some dispute because of which
they had agreed to tie up with us. After that first day, every time any issue use to take
lace, I was made to go to the customers in the schools or their homes and collect their
documents and get the formalities done and then come back to the bank, prepare the
forms for dispatch, dispatch the forms and then inform my PB or RM regarding the
completion of the work, put the forms with kits issued on the WD for DMS out entry to
be done and then create an envelope for WBO, mark the address and then contact the
Linear Express courier service to come and take away those forms. With this, one cycle
of the form filling, customer visiting and form dispatching round would end. It used to be
my near about daily routine to go to the school and collect the documents and get the
work done.
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Filling forms: I also used to fill up the forms and Factiva of the customers and get the
UCIC checked. I learned doing the work done and the files management also along with
some work at the teller counter of check clearing, cheque returns filing and the cheque
receiving. HDFC Bank believes that all its customers are the opportunities gift rapped so
they wanted to give less stress to the customers. For this, they made the customers just
sign the form and all the other details used to be filled by the bankers. They used to
delegate their works to me and I was made responsible for filling up all the forms so that
whatsoever be the case, in any ways, the customer is not at a risk of filling wrong
information or incorrect information and the mismatch occurs. I was made to fill u the
forms and as per the RBI and HDFC guidelines and then in case any information is
missing on the consumer’s side, call them and ask them regarding the same.
Net banking Activation: A lot of customers who used to open their accounts with the
banks did not keep in mind that their account has certain conditions to which they have
signed for. The Net banking activation, addition of nominee details, the bill pay
activation, the debit card activation and a minimum credit of 1ooo INR after one month
of account opening to avoid it from becoming a dormant account or an inactive account.
So, as a PB at WD, it was my job to tell the customers the same and tell them to take the
desired action, or if not, get them do their desired action so that their accounts do not
reflect as non-performing accounts under that branch. We used to ask the customers to
book an RD (Recurring Deposit) from their Net Banking so that not only activation
procedure is completed but the amount is saved for higher interests. These benefits the
banker as their productivity is counted for the day in booking RD and RD completion
targets as well as the customer gets slight high rates of interest rates on their savings.
Also, the bankers were asked to create the lead and convert it, I was asked to pitch all
sorts of products through net banking to the customers multiple times and tell them about
the different products and services provided by HDFC Bank. The customers used to
enquire about different things and products and we used to direct them to do the same
from their net banking. This was also counted in the banker’s productivity of net banking
activation from their tables. Each banker had to report their LG and LC of the day along
with the customer ID and the customer ID is checked at the end of the day before
declaring the fact that the productivity of the banker is actually met or not. Although the
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customers views also mattered that the concerned banker met them or not. The bankers
had to maintain a rough sheet in excel and maintain their daily productivity in that sheet
as per the products.
Payzapp Activation: Generally, the customers have become addicted to Paytm, which is
one stop payment gateway for all the small, micro and macro needs of the customers. It
has become a trusted bank with the customers for petty thing like mobile recharges, DTH
recharges and now the one stop digital shop for multi dimensional payments. It was
therefore mandatory for the bankers to encourage the customers to use the PayZapp App
of the bank which will function the same way PayTm does but it will give better cash
backs if used as a medium to spend money. This was also counted in the banker’s wallet.
With each PayZapp activation, a referral code was asked which was completely optional
and in case, the banker provides his/her referral code, it is counted in their productivity
and the banker gets INR 25 as an appreciation for the same.
Figure 8: PayZapp
Credit Cards, Personal loans, Business loans, gold loans and other loans pitching:
Credit cards sales and STP sales across the counters were counted as a huge success. All
the customers having good AQBs (Average Quarterly Balances) used to reflect with the
personal offers in their accounts. Whenever the customer used to arrive with the query,
we used to ask for the account numbers or the customer IDs of that customer. If the
information could not be provided by the customer regarding account number and the
customer ID, we used to see and check their data in the fast path CIM44 where with their
mobile numbers, PAN numbers and AAdhaar numbers. After all this, we used to retrieve
their account summaries and we could trace them in fast path 75o5 where the AQB of the
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customers could be checked. With this, we used to see whether they have credit card or
other Personal loans, business loans and gold loans offers or not.
Reissue of debit cards and credit cards: Several times there were customers whose
cards used to break or loose in the normal day lives. one of the major reasons was the
cards mishandling or keeping in the wallet and wallet mishandling. Due to this, the cards
needs to be hotlisted or blocked via customer care or net banking and then a fresh card is
to be reissued. If the customer demands an instant card, or and insta card, as it is called,
they could be given an insta debit card with the proof of identity, a cancelled check leaf
of that account and a photostate or Xerox of the old card if available. Generally, a copy of
PAN card was taken as an ID Proof but in case the customer insists, we used to settle
upon AAdhaar card also as the ID proof. The credit card reissue could not be done across
the counters and it had to be taken to the customer care to complaint and reissue the new
card.
Instructions: The work of a bank depends upon technology and not just any technology,
it depends upon personalized technology. For the ease of the customers, every customer
is provided with personalized banking services and for this matter, their emails and
mobile numbers are registered with the bank in case their accounts have some action, the
confirmatory or informatory message drops in their accounts and the customers can know
what is going on. But this technology comes with an ease of changing the modes of using
and giving importance to personalized services. Like, the mobile numbers of the
customers change with the change in time or the service providers. Also, in case of
devices non performance or breaking or the sim malfunction or the device been broken or
stolen, the customer looses track of their account details. So they need to change or
update their new means of information seeking. We as bankers need to provide them with
ease of platforms and so we also allow them to change their personal information
tracking details through the banks. For this purpose, the customers are asked to change
their detail using their personalized service of net banking and if the net banking is not
accessible, then contact number can also be changed using the ATM more options.
Similarly, if the customer has certain other instructions to the bank regarding any of their
investments, check books requests, or any other reverses, changes or any other standing
orders, they are called instructions and every day the instructions are made and sent to the
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bank WBo in the city or to Mumbai or to Chennai as per the departments of the
instructions tackling may be. These instructions are entered on the system and the
authorizer of PB, which in branch 1o87 is Mrs. Neetu Singh and Mr. Kamlesh Chaurasia,
used to do. These instructions were sent twice or thrice daily depending upon the form
and the conditions and the urgency of the instructions.
Locker operation: When a customer comes to the branch for locker operation, the
customer has to tell the locker number or locker key number along with the locker hirer
name and either the account number or the customer ID or the address of the locker hirer
so that it is confirmed that the customer is the true face to use the locker services. The
branch 1o87 is being shifted to a new location from Lahurabir to Ramkatora, so the letter
of intimation had to be sent to each of the customers. There are 28o lockers and out of
these, 5 lockers are banks lockers and out of the remaining, 54 lockers were the
surrendered lockers whose break open in front of the lawyers were pending. So all these
customers were sent the letter of intimation from the bank telling them that the bank will
be shifting and the lockers will also shift under perfect supervision of the forces, but in
case they want to take out their belongings and they need to create their securities
themselves, they are free to do so. Also, the locker entry was started to be done in the
Flexcube which was earlier done in the file of the locker and the custodian’s signature
and the customers signature on the attendance sheet.
Locker updation: on 15th May 2o18, a mail was floated to all the employees of the
HDFC Bank regarding the locker instructions and the methods to use them. The locker
updation was now to be done on the software oracle Flexcube because the account
linkage with the lockers was unavailable on the flexcube which included duplicacy of the
work to be done in an offline mode. Hence, the lockers had to be made online.
Shifting of Branch Intimation: my branch was located on the leased land of the LIC
land and it’s lease period was of 1o years. My branch had completed its 1o years of
existence and it had to either renew the lease or had to switch to some other place. Since
re-leasing was a costly affair and the other place where the branch was deemed to shift
was quite safe and cheap in price, it was decided to shift the branch to the other location
near to the original branch so that the customers need not be highly worried about the
procedures and position of the branch. For this purpose, for all the locker holders and the
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account holders, it was important to know that the branch was eyeing transfer from one
location to another. For this purpose, I made all the letters of intimation for all the
customers of the branch having their accounts I our branch and then I got them
photocopied for the POD record. It took huge effort and time in making intimation letter
ready for all the customers and then makes it viable for post and then its recording of the
POD for future reference in case the customer denies the receipt of the letter.
Teller counter: Sitting at the teller counter is a great responsibility. I was made to sit at
the teller counter and receive the cheques by the customers. I had to receive the cheques
and had to segregate them as per their banks. For example, if it is of HDFC, I had to keep
it separately and all the cheques of other branches to be kept separately. I had to receive
the cheques from the customers and then stamp it by using the receiving stamp. Also, at
the teller counter, the cheques of NEFT and RTGS were also received. So, I had to
collect them and give the customers the receiving of the NEFT/RTGS. But this was to be
done only till the time the final clearing of the cheques was not taken out at 12:3o PM.
Any cheques received after 12:3o PM had to drop in the drop box for clearing in the next
day’s first slot, but the cheques received against NEFT/RTGS were still to be collected at
the counter for clearance later. Every day, there were around 5oo cheques received and
the entry was made in the sheet. The sheet is daily tallied with the amount and the
number of cheques drawn upon the banks, the parties involved, etc. I had to count the
cheques and their folio slips before it went for the daily clearing. Also, the return cheques
were to be taken into account. They had to be maintained in a register and the entry for
the same had to be made along with the date of return and the cheque had to be reclogged
again as per the convenience and if the reclogging was not possible, the customer had to
be informed about the same. There used to be a register number entry for the cheques
which had to be mentioned along with the reason of the cheque return. Majority of the
cheques which were returned were due to payee name differ or wrongly written cheque.
There was also an authorizer in the name of teller authorizer who had to authorize the
cheque entries and if they exceed the limit, they had to doubly authorize or seek dual
authorization from the concerned authority.
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Kits and Tatkal register and authorization: Whenever a customer used to come for
account opening and he wished it to be insta account, then they were issued a debit card.
For this, they were made to sign the form.. if they opened an account, then they received
insta kit and the entry was done directly in the registers of the bank called Tatkal register.
If they wanted to have a reissue of cards, then they get just the card and not the kit and in
that case the entry is done in the tatkal register.
With this, my internship ended on o8th June 2o18. I sincerely thank all my mentors, teammates,
colleagues and friends who helped me spend these magical 6o days in corporate life giving an
experience of the world outside studies on practical grounds.
3. Essential takeaways
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anything about the banking process or this rule of the banking process. So there my RM
supported me and he talked to her in a manner she could relate to and understand. The lady not
just understood, but also was convinced that her banking was going into right hands. This made
me realize that the communication skills matters over and above the sales process.
The software used in the bank is Oracle Flexcube and it is a highly rated software for security.
HDFC Bank pays a lot of attention to the customer privacy. People like me, interns, non-banking
employees and payroll employees, BSOs and CSOs were not allowed to sit on the authorized
person’s chair or touch their systems. They used to say that even if organizational cordial
friendship is acknowledged, still, domain privacy and Flexcube privacy lies in the support of the
customer’s well wishing. They took utmost care that no information is given without proper
authorization by the customer and maintained high standards of customer data protection. In case
the password holder wishes to grant his/her password usage rights to someone, it was done only
after proper written mail to the HR, BM and all the other concerned authorities and the duration
and the purpose of sharing the domain password and flexcube password had to be clearly and
specifically mentioned. Also, the person who has received that password was responsible to mail
mark the concerned authorities with the acknowledgement of the receipt of the passwords and
must ensure them that it will not be misused by him under any circumstance and if it is misused,
then he will be responsible till the time he is made liable to hold the details. After the duration of
password sharing is over, a mail has to be marked again to the same authorities by the password
holder stating that they have taken back the responsibility of ther passwords and that they have
changed the password also. Also, the person who had taken the responsibility of the passwords in
the absence has to mail mark that he did not misuse the password and that he has handed over the
responsibility back to the person from whom he had taken it. Then the consent will be provided
to change the password and not share it again. Another example of the security maintained was
that if someone knows the user ID, which was the employee ID, of a person, he can try to
recover the password in the flexcube. For this purpose, if the password was wrongly typed even
if once in the login portal, the flexcube used to get locked till the original password holder
themselves requests in the User Authorization Manual (UAM) window for SIS. This itself tells
the level of secrecy and security maintained in the banking procedures.
When I interacted with them, I found out that the bank is very strict about meeting individual and
branch targets. They work in a constant pressure of achieving targets. However, the bank and its
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employees genuinely thrive to help its customers and provide service. The bank organizes
competitions internally for employees and promises rewards if the employee achieves the
mentioned targets. This is how they motivate employees towards working harder. But to
formally check and evaluate the performance of all employees, an annual rating is done. The
rating is done on a scale of 1 to 5 Likert Scale where 1 was the Beast Performer, 2 was the Max
Performer, 3 was the Satisfactory Performer, 4 was Average Performer and 5 was the Poor
Performer to be kept under observation period for 180 days and if the condition stays the same,
then termination after the stipulated time period was done. Based on that, the best performer at
the branch receives a letter of appreciation and gets a hike in his salary along with bonus and
incentive, to compensate his/her exceptional performance and motivate the others for the same..
Power distance
The employee hierarchy existed in the branch only in terms of reporting to the senior authorities
about the work done and the performance made. Otherwise, all employees were free to ask help
from their reporting head or from the branch manager himself. If some employee was going to
meet an important potential client and if he feels the need, then he would ask the branch manager
or personal banker or the personal banker authorizer or any other senior to accompany them in
order to convert the deal or close the deal. Their senior would readily agree and support the
employee convert the call. Thus, the relationship among the branch manager or other reporting
heads and the employees was more of a mentor-mentee than of one being the boss and the other
one an employee. Also, outside the branch and off- duty, no power show off was sighted.
Points of conflict
Most of the conflicts with customers pertained to the bank debiting charges from their account.
Most of the times, the customers were unaware of the nature of charges which created a feeling
of distrust among them. However, after giving an explanation most of the customers understood.
There were also that set of customers who complained about the bank debiting charges for a
service that got activated in their account without their knowledge. For example, there was a
customer who received a mail on his ID which said that due to balance deficiency in his account,
his payment for his RD could not be completed. Due to this, he was infuriated as he did not
subscribe for any such RDs. So he visited the branch and then it came into notice that his account
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was in Lahurabir branch but his RD was activated from Orderly Bazaar branch. So this was a
major flaw and the customer was so infuriated with this that he was adamant to close all his
accounts and his family member’s accounts from our branch. But here I used my intellect and
made him write a letter which stated that he did not ask for any such service and that in future he
also never will. And in case he will want to avail it, he will give it in writing. Other than that, if
his account shows any service unasked for or unsubscribed for, he will report in the consumer
service forums. This way, he could avoid the mess that had happened and can happily sway
through the banking process. Such type of customers were the most difficult to handle.
Opportunities
In a way, every customer entering the branch is an opportunity for the bank. As our branch was
located in a commercial area, there was a set of customers who were very highly educated and
had immense knowledge on various avenues of investment, but they were either hesitant to
block their money or were uninterested in another mind occupying work. Such customers
remained untapped and can be a source of opportunity for the bank. Also, BSBDA account
holders who held zero balance accounts remained untapped. The need of every customer class is
different. Thus, giving them customized solutions as to how will a particular investment help
them and in what way, they can make a difference and increase the number of customers
investing.
Issues
The team is highly pressurized to achieve their targets, sometimes they take to morally wrong
paths. This led to creation of certain services for some innocent customers who do not
understand that they have been trapped and exploited. For example, we had a customer in our
branch who held salary account wit our bank. He was not having an ATM card or a cheque book
and he wanted to withdraw money on an urgent basis for his son’s education. So he came to the
branch asking for the delivery of instant card. Now, the stock in the branch was requiring
replenishment but the indent wasn’t dropped in time so the Salary account debit card kit of 161
code did not arrive. The branch should have ideally given him a withdrawal slip which would
lead to a charge of Rupees 118 on the instant withdrawal. Instead, they gave him a rewards card
which has an annual charge of Rupees 590 which kept the customer on a losing end. But it was a
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contest month of providing more rewards debit cards, so the ignorant WD made this mistake.
When his annual amount was debited, the person could not bear it and wanted an explanation. He
was then told that it was an honest mistake and that card had to be taken back as cancelled and
then the customer was made to request another card which had no annual charges. Other
instances included the negligence shown by the person sitting at Welcome Desk towards
customers. It left the customers angry and unsatisfied with the bank’s service. Another issue at
macro level was that HDFC does not allow Third Party Transfers for BSBDA and Salary
accounts. This is a big setback because all other banks allow it, and this also shows non-
uniformity in their services for different types of customers.
Future competition
On interaction with various customers who complained about the bank charging high amounts
for various services in comparison to other banks of the same stature, I realized that most of the
customers compared the bank with Kotak bank, Axis bank and ICICI bank. Various customers
mentioned about taking loans from other financial institutions and NBFCs such as FairCent, IVF
IndiaBulls Dhani and Muthoot Finance. This shows that such institutions can give a tough
competition to HDFC as they are tapping the people at the bottom of pyramid who are in dire
need of finances. Many NBFCs are also scaling up their business and acquiring licences to
function as a bank. Thus, this increasing number of players in the market is a sign that HDFC
should not neglect them as they are potential competitors.
Observations
The bank focused a lot on new customer acquisitions and retentions. It is completely
customer centric and less employee centric. Employees had to give customers priority
and at times had to go to meetings even after their working hours. The bank demanded
them to do so.
Employees work under a constant pressure of achieving targets. Therefore, they require
higher motivation in comparison of other industries. However, the bank lacks at
providing any motivational support or programme to them that can help the employees
keep going and perform better.
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I observed that all the employees were knowledgeable and were able to interact well with
all the customers. But, I personally felt that more customer interaction is required. For
every profile, there are a number of customer interactions an employee needs to have
with him/her in a given duration. Constant follow-ups are required in order to build
healthy relations with a customer.
To increase customer interaction, the bank can organize seminars related to investment
and its benefits. By doing this, they will be able to contact more customers at one time
and which will be beneficial for them. Also, every customer class has a different set of
requirements and invests with different purposes. Thus, they should address such points
in the seminar.
I observed over two months that all the employees gave lesser importance to BSBDA
customers, i.e., to those who had zero balance accounts with the bank. However, if these
customers are tapped and good relations are maintained then they can also give business
to the bank. They can give smaller amounts, but their number is high. This can also
become a differentiating factor for HDFC bank and help create an image of a socially
responsible bank.
Another observation made by me was about organizational politics and friendship. All
employees had cordial relations with each other but all of them also knew that they were
responsible for only their key responsibility areas.
Deliquesce Management System: This is process in which the customer is provided
with a token number and that token number is used to direct the customer to the
respective counters when his turn arrives. In present scenario, in HDFC bank, the
customers come at their own wished time and then they wish to get their work done early
and with full concentration, but in bigger branches or busy bank days, it becomes really
difficult to manage all the customers and allot full time to each of them. This leads to
customer dissatisfaction. To avoid this, DMS is a tool which can be easily implemented
and which can save a lot of chaos.
Kiosk Machines: These are the automated machines for the balance enquiry, passbook
printing and statement generation. This will avoid counter rush and provide a common
platform for all the users to self service themselves.
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4. Bibliography
https://www.hdfcbank.com/
Business Line 27th November 2017
https://www.slideshare.net/xmanjd/hdfc-banks-strategies
https://www.slideshare.net/harsharyan/strategic-analysis-of-hdfc-bank
https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-hdfc/
https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/banking-and-financial-services/704-hdfc.html
http://fernfortuniversity.com/term-papers/porter5/analysis/987-hdfc-bank-limited.php
https://www.slideshare.net/harsharyan/strategic-analysis-of-hdfc-bank
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/largest-opportunity-for-
growth-is-still-in-india-hdfc-bank-deputy-md/article9974028.ece
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PART C
C.1. LEARNING FROM THE SUMMER TRAINING
During the span of two months, apart from understanding the functioning of entire branch and
understanding inter-dependence of various departments, I was also assigned the work of
generating leads. It can be for any product, i.e., loan, SIP, FD, RD, insurance, savings account,
current accounts, credit cards, loans and other products. However, as most of the walk-in
customers in the branch were already account holders with the bank or representatives of the
account holders, by the nature of the interaction itself, I pitched for Recurring Deposits more
because of the investment capturing market. While interacting with customers, I understood their
nature and figured out what they exactly needed and pitched accordingly. Thus, this helped me
experience and understand the behaviour of customers with respect to any investment decisions
that they had to make. Also, guidance of the seniors and fellow workers gave an important
insight.
1) Demographic factors
Age of a customer has direct impact on the investment decision as it is connected to
his/her risk taking capacity. Generally, young people in the age group of 18-4o years
have more risk taking capacity and senior citizens have a lesser risk taking capacity.
Investment decision also depends on the family condition and situation of the
individual. For example, if an individual has two children who are in school then it is
obvious that he/she will require money for his/her children’s higher education or
marriage. Thus, such people prefer investing in products that gave stable returns rather
than going for higher return and taking high risk. Such people are called risk aversive
people.
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Income distribution level of the customer is the most important factor that affects
investment decision of a customer. Along with income, dependants in his/her family are
also related. If more number of dependents exist, then the individual will not be able to
save more hence, saving lesser money for investment. Such people will also be risk
averse.
Educational qualification of a person has major impact on an individual’s decision as
most of the times highly educated people understand the importance of investment.
While, other set of customers need to be given this knowledge or are just ignorant about
the same.
Gender played an important role. Several times a female customer showed keen interest
in investment but did not have the decision making power. They answered that they
need to ask their husband before taking the decision.
2) Religious and cultural factors
The religion of a customer has major impact. For example, Muslims do not invest much
as they follow different set of financial principles mentioned under Islamic Finance.
Different cultures have different investment patterns. There are some castes and
cultures who invest more in fixed assets such as gold and house property while there is
another set that invests more in capital markets.
3) Environmental factors
The environment, in which an individual is brought up, shapes his/her personality. A
person’s personality also affects investment decisions. For example, if an individual has
had a bad experience in his/her previous investments then he/she is bound to become risk
averse and will be over cautious. on the other hand, if an individual has good knowledge
and is willing to take calculated risk, then his/her investment decisions will differ.
4) Purpose of investment
The purpose of investment also decides the duration of investment. If an individual is
investing to travel after few years, then his/her investment duration would be short.
However, if an individual is investing for the future of his/her children or planning
his/her retirement, the duration is bound to be longer.
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If a purchase decision is to make a high impact on the individual’s life then he/she is bound to
have high involvement. But if the decision does not affect his/her lifestyle much then the
involvement remains on a lower side. For example, deciding which toothpaste to purchase will
demand less involvement as it will not affect a customer’s lifestyle to that extent. If he/she does
not like it, then the next they won’t buy it. However, if an individual is buying a residential
property then there would be high involvement in decision making as this decision would change
his/her lifestyle. Changing the place of residence needs consideration of factors such as
surroundings and neighbourhood.In case of an investment decision, an individual is planning for
the safe future of his/her family.
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No customer feels that he/she needs to investment for the future. This need has to be created. The
customer needs to be enlightened about the benefits he/she would get by making that investment.
Now, these benefits would differ for every customer. If the customer does not pay much
attention to the benefits, then he/she can be told about the consequences of not investing.
Therefore, it is crucial that one interacts with the customer and figures out his/her nature and
judge the investment type to offer. The best way to offer and sell a financial product is to
understand the thought process of your customer. Thus, investment need has to be created in
most of the cases.
Walk-in customers who have come to the branch for some work, can be interacted with
and the idea of investment can be shared with them. As I was asked to generate
maximum leads for Systematic Investment Plans, I asked the customers if they invest or
not. If the customer said yes, I would ask about their current investment and accordingly
suggest them investment options. Pitching for SIP is easier as you can convince the
customer by saying that the minimum amount to start is Rs 1ooo. This sure seems to
work as the amount of investment is low and recurring.
The second type is when the customer upfront comes to make an investment. In such a
case, the purpose of investment is clear in mind of customer. Therefore, related products
are to be offered. In this case, cross-selling of products can also be done.
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If two customers have been approached, then one should find out who the decision maker is and
focus on convincing them more. Because ultimately, the power of taking decision lies with
him/her. In most of the cases, this power was vested with the male member of the family. I had
many instances when I pitched the product to a female customer and she had shown keen interest
but, in the end, left the decision to a male member of her family. Therefore, this ratio is skewed
towards the male gender.
3. Follow-up
Most of the times, the customer will not agree for the investment in one go. Regular follow-ups
need to be taken. This is the time to build strong relations with the potential customer. one can
help them in their other banking transactions and make them feel as a valuable customer to the
bank. Because the customer needs to be given service, only then they will listen to you. The most
important thing to gain in this time is the customer’s trust. For example, I was pitching to a
female customer for SIP and she shared her past experience with me when she had been cheated
by someone in name of a similar scheme. At that time, I assured her that no such thing will
happen with our bank as the conversation is happening inside the bank, in front of other
employees and therefore her investment would be safe. Then ultimately she understood and
showed positive signs. However, there is a fine line between taking follow ups and spamming
the customer with calls and messages. This line should never be crossed. To initiate a healthy
working relation, I have even called a potential customer to wish on her birthday. Now one
should not bring up the point of investment at that time. When to bring up the investment point
and when not to, it is very tactical in nature. It is all about the timing.
There will also be those set of customers who will say a clear no and they should not be
contacted again by the employee. Because the way you behave with a customer directly projects
the bank and he/she identifies the bank through your name and face.
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After regular follow-ups, when the customer finally agrees, no time should be wasted and the
sales should be closed as soon as possible. Because investment decisions are more psychological
in nature. During the time, if the customer gets to know about a bad experience of someone then
their decision can change.
After the investment scheme starts, the employee should still keep in touch with the customer.
This strengthens the customer’s relations with the bank and portrays a good image of the bank.
For example, after constant follow-ups, when my customer finally came to the branch to invest
in SIP, it was my last day at work. At that time, I felt that it was important for me to tell her that
it was my last day. Because if she wouldn’t have found me the next time she visited the branch, a
sense of fear of being cheated again would pass through her. Thus, in order to avoid such
situation I disclosed that it was my last day and showed her the person to contact in case of
future transactions.
The role of after sales service is also to keep in touch with the customer such that he/she
remembers you. If the customer wants any advice related to banking or investment he/she should
contact you. That is how you keep in touch with a customer and are able to pitch more products
in future as well.
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