Customer Service & Banking Codes and Standards

It is important that every adult member of the countryshould have a bank account and be included in mainstream banking. Yet, it iswell known that a large segment of the population is financially excluded anddo not have a bank account. However, the number of people served by the banksis very large. The BSR data published by RBI reveals that there were more than66 crore deposit accounts and more than 11 crore credit accounts as on March29. Though it is evident that one person can have multiple accounts, it isseen that commercial banks cater to a large number of customers. This coupledwith the fact that banks have near monopoly in offering saving facility to thepeople has made customer service an important aspect of banking. An efficientand effective customer service is of vital importance in modern day banking.The task becomes all the more challenging as the expectations of the customershave seen paradigm shifts in the recent past. Customer service calls forappropriate soft skills and also a good knowledge of the banking products andprocesses.

IIBF believes that education plays a crucial role inimproving the skill sets of bankers. It is our belief that in addition to thefinancial education of customers, there is a need to equip the bank staff withappropriate knowledge on customer service. This course material on CustomerService and Banking Codes has been designed and developed by IIBF with activesupport from the Banking Codes And Standards Board of India (BCSBI). Thecourseware is expected to equip the practicing bankers to put on ground anefficient customer service.