Surendera Nath Chopra and Preetpal Singh were intently watching the entire cash chaos unfold on their TV screens, when suddenly the phone rang. The call seemed like a prank at first! Their bank, IDFC, was offering them the unbelievable facility of having cash delivered at home, which meant they no longer needed to stand in serpentine queues for hours. But good things happen, and so it was.
Their minds started racing - How was this possible when all banks had been thrown in disarray? Are they fraudsters? How can they deliver the cash at home?
Chopra, a Noida resident of Block A, Sector 30, recounts his initial thoughts, "Fortunately, I had a few Rs-100 notes with me, so I haven't had to visit a bank yet. Just the thought of standing there for hours gave me a headache. But I would have to -- I was running out of cash! So I decided to call the guy over. I was eager to find out."
Surendera Nath Chopra with a bank representative at his residence in Noida
Singh, a resident of New Friends Colony, adds, "I had indeed gone to the nearby ATMs a couple of time, but standing in line for hours was just not possible for me. So, this call came as a surprise."
At a time when all banks are crumbling under pressure, how did IDFC manage to do it differently? They simply put their unused tablets to use, explains Vishesh Soni, the branch manager of consumer banking at the Sector-18 branch in Noida. He plunges into details, "We had a lot of unused tablets that had all the systems installed. We thought of putting them to use now! We started compiling a list of senior citizens and women customers and began calling them for appointments. We wanted to take banking at their doorstep - deliver the cash home."
Preetpal Singh with an IDFC representative at his residence in New Friends Colony
So far (November 16), the bank has been able to facilitate over 50 customers - mostly senior citizens and women. Seeing the tremendous response, the bank has started connecting with various RWAs in Delhi-NCR.
Mayank Pandey, manager (sales and marketing), Noida, Sector 18, said IDFC representatives were able to visit Noida's Sector 30, Wellington Estate on Golf Course Road in Gurgaon and New Friend’s Colony on November 15. “We are also facilitating people who don’t have bank accounts. We are opening spot accounts after taking all the required details and documents. Once they transfer money into their new accounts through IMPS, RTGS or NEFT, we hand over cash to them through our mini ATM facility in 5-10 minutes. We got 50-60 account requests, but after verification, opened around 25 to 30 in the last two days."
The bank is now spreading its reach to Shipra Sun City and Masjid Moth in Indirapuram. However, since it was a working day, the bank couldn’t reach out to a lot of residents.
