I started my relationship with Standard Chartered bank in 1998 when I opened a savings account with ANZ Grindlays in the Fort Branch. This was my first interaction with a private bank and I was swept off my feet. They were polite and courteous and treated the customer like a king.
In a couple of years Grindlays became Standard Chartered Grindlays. There was a noticeable drop in the standards of service at their branches but on the whole it was still acceptable. Eventually, the bank became Standard Chartered and from then onwards it has never been the same. As far as Stan Chart goes, their policy seems to be that the customer comes last!
Let me list out the various reasons why I think this is the worst private sector bank in India:
*At the branch
*The first impression that you get when you walk into the branch is that their banking representatives are just not interested in you. Every time I have gone to the branch for some work their representatives are on their mobile phones and I’ve always had to wait for at least half an hour before they can spare a few minutes of their valuable time. The second problem is that they seem to rely on phonebanking too much. Half the time the representatives at the branch express their ability at solving your problem and request you to contact phonebanking. This Entire approach strikes me as fairly ridiculous. If I could have sorted my problems over the phone why would I walk into your branch! In contrast I have always found the tellers to be courteous and very efficient at their job.
*Phonebanking
*The problem with phonebanking is that they mysteriously seem to forget any requests you’ve made over the phone. On more than one occassion i’ve made a request via phonebanking and later found out that it was never recorded.
*Internet Banking
*I have used many internet banking websites such as ICICI, Citibank and HDFC and the Standard Chartered website is definitely one of the worst. It is not in the least bit user-friendly and does not allow you to do very much. It is also full of numerous dead links and glitches(just try changing your contact details online) and worst of all - they NEVER record any requests for redemption of credit card points. Also, there are no facilities for online bill payments or any of the like. Compared to the excellent Net Banking service that ICICI provides, it fails on all counts.