Hyderabad:
How would you like it, if you were unhappy and wanted to change that, all you needed to do was to send an SMS saying you are unhappy and your problems would be taken care of? That is precisely what a bank has done for its customers in Andhra Pradesh. The simple innovation is all set to be patented and emulated.
Senior citizen Jagannathan says it was a constant struggle to get the interest on his fixed deposit with the State Bank of India (SBI), credited to his savings account on time. When repeated visits to the bank branch did not help, he decided to tell the bank that he was unhappy.
"For the last quarter, the interest was not credited on the due date. Immediately I remembered this unhappy call centre set up by SBI. I contacted them by sending a SMS and within 24 hours, the interest amount due to me was credited," said N Jagannathan, Customer.
Every SMS which says 'Unhappy' arrives at a centre, aptly called 'Happy room' and the customer is contacted immediately.
"By sending a single SMS, my three problems have been solved within 24 hours," said Gurunath Reddy, Customer.
Ever since SBI introduced this facility last December, over 16000 customers have told the bank that they are unhappy, without mincing words, quite literally.
"We have applied for the patent for the process because it is something unique - in the entire country and perhaps in the world itself," said KT Ajit, DGM, SBI.
SBI plans to go national with this initiative by the year-end. The Indian School of Business in Hyderabad has also taken up this eco-friendly and transparent way of making the bank customer-friendly as a case study.
Senior citizen Jagannathan says it was a constant struggle to get the interest on his fixed deposit with the State Bank of India (SBI), credited to his savings account on time. When repeated visits to the bank branch did not help, he decided to tell the bank that he was unhappy.
"For the last quarter, the interest was not credited on the due date. Immediately I remembered this unhappy call centre set up by SBI. I contacted them by sending a SMS and within 24 hours, the interest amount due to me was credited," said N Jagannathan, Customer.
Every SMS which says 'Unhappy' arrives at a centre, aptly called 'Happy room' and the customer is contacted immediately.
"By sending a single SMS, my three problems have been solved within 24 hours," said Gurunath Reddy, Customer.
Ever since SBI introduced this facility last December, over 16000 customers have told the bank that they are unhappy, without mincing words, quite literally.
"We have applied for the patent for the process because it is something unique - in the entire country and perhaps in the world itself," said KT Ajit, DGM, SBI.
SBI plans to go national with this initiative by the year-end. The Indian School of Business in Hyderabad has also taken up this eco-friendly and transparent way of making the bank customer-friendly as a case study.
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