Sep 06, 2004 11:07 PM
3588 Views
(Updated Apr 19, 2006 10:12 PM)
(Update in April 2006 -
Possibly Citibank has read review on mouthshut.com and they have improved their services very much. They improved their customer care very much. Hope they will keep up the good work!)
Suvidha Account
----------------
Plus- Zero balance account for corporate accounts.
Minus - Non salary accounts require minimum balance of Rs.10,000/- or Rs.100/- will be cut per month.
Over Draft
----------
Plus - Special Overdraft Facility based on salary.
Minus - It sometimes comes as a free headache. Even if you accidently use the option of current account/over draft from ATM, without warning Rs.500/- will get deducted as yearly charge. Even if you want to opt out immediately all you can do is forget the Rs.500/-! The interest rate charges is just around 2.5% they say , but what they may not say is it is pro-rata or daily interest rate, when calculated to annual interest will be a big two digit figure!
ATMs
-----
Plus - (1) In Bangalore the citibank has the largest number of ATMs, may be more than 100 !! (2) There is sufficient space compared to small box ATMs of other banks.
Minus - (1) Since citibank has lots of salary account, on the days when salary is credited the que in bank reminds us of the 'fish market'! (2) This includes the same problem during peak hours or on holidays. (3) If you have thought the citibank is a 24-hour bank it is true... except that the ATMs are not always dependable... due to (a) linking problem (b) no cash ! (c) refueling! (d) heavy rush... well 24 hours is NOT 24 hours!! (4) You swap your card and enter you pin and the machine is stuck! what do you do?
Phone in ATMs
--------------
Plus - Dont pay for it.
Minus - (1) There is only one phone in each ATM. (2) It is almost always busy with a minimum waiting time of atleast 20 mins.
Internet Machine in the ATM (dont know whatz it called)
-------------------------------------------------------
Plus - (1)Very useful compared to other banks do not provide so much access from ATM on account details. (2) You can take detailed print out of up to many months immediately.
Minus - (1) Usually you have to swap again and again to work, since the machines once kept it seems were never maintained. (2) There is only machine in an ATM center. (3) The net link is down most of the time.
Parking
--------
Plus - Dont have to pay parking fees !
Minus - Dont have to pay parking fees because ATMs usually dont provide any parking space!!
Internet Banking
---------------
Plus - Bank from anywhere.
Minus - How safe is netbanking?? With nerds hacking even in BARC, india's one of the most secure places... net banking is not all that safe to users who browse from internet booth or from places where more than one users use the computer. A discovery channel program showed long time back lots of money got stolen through internet banking... which remained an unsolved mystery... though the seems to have rectified the KNOWN security problem.... and the customers were not affected..at least according to the discovery channel program.
Customer Care on Phone
----------------------
Plus - Nice music ! Nice sweet voices!
Minus - (1) Wait and wait! (2) Music music music (3) They may be able to answer a straight question like what is your bank balance, but USUALLY give wrong answers to any questions for which they have to use their brains! (4) NO PROOF ! NO ACCOUNTABILITY! Whatever rubbish they say will go unaccounted since there is no numbering or proof you can keep that the particular officer had said you so.( I was told by a CC agent that my overdraft facility will not get activated from ATM unless I give a standing instruction via phone or mail, but an accidental usage and my Overdraft got activated without any warning and inability to disable it. I can complain? what proof do I have? What reference number do I have?)
Banking in the Bank
--------------------
Plus - Never went to the bank, so dont know.
Minus - (1) There will be only one branch the whole of the city, even in a city like Bangalore. (2) Every transaction at the bank is charged@Rs.100/-. (A friend of mine got Rs.100/- short from ATM machine and went to complain in the bank. The bank took in the complaint and refunded the amount happily, but took Rs.100/- as transaction charges !!)
Family Card
-----------
Plus - This is an add-on card, which you can give to your family member by fixing a limit.
Minus - This comes with an annual charge.
Free HEADACHES!
---------------
Whether you like it or not either citi representative will you every now and then to ask if you want a house loan another to ask if you want a personal loan another for a credit card and every time a type of credit card comes! You can tell them no a 100 times, but still these die hard optimists will keep calling you!
There are associates and marketing agents who gherao you near the ATMs and will keep asking you if you want loans and cards... if you say no ..... they are going to keep asking to take one... if you say you already have one they ask the details and start advicing on what is the new card in the market and how it is better than your card !
Well whether you like it or not how safe is your phone numbers and email addresses with the bank.
Conclusion:
-----------
Lots of Good facilities come with lots of free headaches and bad experiences.
