I am a NRI Imperia customer having a significant deposit relationship with HDFC bank. Their website for imperiat customership promises the following.
"HDFC Bank Imperia Premium Banking programme is designed for the royalty of today - you. It seeks to enhance the exclusivity that you are accustomed to and pampers you with services that others can only dream about. Be it a dedicated Client Relationship Manager, customised investment services or exclusive privileges, Imperia takes care of every little detail to ensure a banking experience like no other".
Unfortunately the above statement & promise is confined to its website only and the reality even the imperia customer is treated & served with hostile attitude.
I struggled with simple service requests such as KYC updation confirmation, Enrollment of mobile number, Cheque book requests, Nominations for the Deposits, and finally Debit card & its PIN. For each and every simple service request, you need to submit or send the desired documentation and follow up with RM with couple of reminders. It is your responsibility to get the feedback from the bank and bank would not alert you anything on its own. HDFC bank proactively never comes to your rescue to provide any kind of service. For example, recently on its own, bank had chosen to issue new debit cards to imperia customers. It did not bother to cross check whether new cards have reached the customers or not but promptly deactivated the existing cards. For NRI customers, HDFC banks sends everything to India address in the name of registered address in their records and has no provision to route to abroad address. For some sensitive requests like debit card or cheque book, they refuse to deliver even at the registered address in India as NRI customer is not available. The bank expects that NRI customer is available as like resident customer all the time at the India address. Not sure whether they understand the meaning of NRI customer.
Every branch that you visit in India imposes its own rules. They demand some docs for cash withdrawl which is not notified anywhere. When bring to their notice, some say it is demanded for security of the customer and other branch people say it is for audit purpose.
It is been more than 5 years that am dealing with this bank, I can say that it did not understand NRI customer banking requirements. Even while we give tremendous business to the bank, the NRI customer gets raw deal. The service levels are deteriorating day by day making matters worse. You shudder to interact with bank staff.I I am just hoping that new banking licenses open up some competition to the existing limited private banks and customer gets the best service and win-win deals.