ICICI Bank, India’s second largest bank, has entered into a strategic long term agreement with Richard Pieris & Co. whereby all shoppers who patronise any Arpico Supercentre in Sri Lanka will be entitled to world class privileged shopping deals as well as preferred banking services and discounts.

ICICI Bank Sri Lanka Senior Vice President and Head of Retail Liabilities Sachin Sikka said, “What’s more, customers could even win a 100% rebate on their shopping bills. Going forward as the arrangement evolves, there is also a chance that a customer could get to meet the one and only King Khan, namely Shah Rukh Khan (the Bank’s global brand ambassador) himself. As a result of this tie up, both entities can leverage their strengths and synergies for delivering value added benefits and facilities to customers. It is a win-win tie-up for both Arpico and ICICI Bank, said Sikka speaking after signing the agreement.

The Bank is planning to recruit a team especially dedicated for this project.

The Arpico chain of Supercentres have earned a reputation for being one of the best retail outlets in the country, a one stop shop, catering to the needs of house holders of most income groups, with a host of products ranging from groceries to cosmetics, clothing, furniture and home care items.

“As one of the country’s leading retail chains, we are pleased to enter into a partnership with a global bank like ICICI Bank, an acknowledged leader in the global financial services sector,” Arpico’s CEO Bertram Paul said.

There will be co branded Privilege desks at all Arpico Supercentres which will be manned by trained ICICI Bank and Arpico personnel who will attend to all customer queries and needs. “It is our intention to make both the shopping as well as the banking experience more rewarding and more exciting for our customers” was the unanimous declaration of both Sikka and Paul.

ICICI Bank in India runs several successful co-branded and alliance programmes with reputed companies. These programmes are supported with state of art backend systems and infrastructure. ICICI Bank has also been a pioneer in leveraging synergies of cross sell through strategic tie ups with various industry players.

Some of them being co branded credit cards with HPCL [Hindustan Petroleum Company], one of Asia’s largest selling cards, car loan facilities with Maruti, one of the largest car manufacturers in the Indian car market, Personal loan tie up with SOTC [travel company], again one of the largest in the Indian Travel market, and many other strategic alliances.

Sikka said, “We have the technical know how and expertise to ensure the long term success of such a relationship, whilst continuing to add more customer benefits and facilities as we go along”.

ICICI Bank Sri Lanka has in the recent past launched several facilities and value added services to its customer base, including its Doorstep Banking Service, Senior Citizens Account, Young Stars Account, Personal Loans via Debit Card, Car Loans, Motorbike Loans, and a host of other facilities including the highest interest rates for the whole family, as well as a unique rural banking product.

“It is our intention to extend the same cross sell strategy to Sri Lanka as well, and this tie up with Arpico is just the beginning of many more such exciting and value added benefits that our customer base could look forward to availing themselves of in the near future” said Sikka.

ICICI Bank is India’s second largest bank and largest private sector bank with over 50 years presence in financial services and with assets of USD 92 billion as on September 30, 2007.

The Bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, private equity and asset management. ICICI Bank is a leading player in the retail banking market and services its large customer base through a network of over 950 branches and extension counters, 3600 ATMs, call centers and internet banking (www.icicibank.com) to ensure that customers have access to its services at all times.

ICICI Bank set up the International Banking Group (IBG) in the year 2002 to implement a focussed strategy for its international banking business. Within a short span of five years, ICICI Bank’s international presence currently spans 18 countries and includes wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Canada and Russia; offshore banking units in Singapore and Bahrain; a branch in Dubai, branches in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Qatar and ICICI UK PLC branches in Belgium ; and representative offices in the United States, China, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
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