From Citi to ICICI: A Personal Take on an Underrated Banking Experience

[Hell_Kitty]

I’ve never been the kind of person who gets excited about banks — until recently. My journey with Citi began back in 2014 when I opened my first salary account. For nearly a decade, Citi served me well. Smooth digital experience, courteous customer care, minimal branch visits, and most importantly — no aggressive selling of loans, insurance, or FDs. I even had an overdraft limit that quietly scaled from ₹50K to ₹5L over time, which I barely used, but appreciated as an emergency backup.

But when Citi announced its retail exit in India, it left many of us at a crossroads. The idea of transitioning to Axis (the chosen successor for Citi’s retail operations) didn’t appeal to me — I’d heard one too many mixed reviews. So, I made a clean break and decided to move my salary account to ICICI Bank in July 2023.

And honestly? I didn’t expect to be this impressed.

A Quiet Start, A Solid Upgrade​

I had already opened a basic ₹10K MAB ICICI account in 2022 but hadn’t done much with it. When I updated it to a salary account, things took a turn for the better. Almost immediately after my first salary credit, I was upgraded to a Wealth Management account with zero balance requirements. That alone was a nice surprise.

Back then, I had an ICICI Amazon Pay card with a decent limit (₹3.4L) — which, in hindsight, I regret closing in pursuit of shinier cards like Sapphiro and Infinia.

The Pre-Approved Avalanche​

What followed was a stream of pre-approved offers. Within the first three months:

• Home Loan: ₹1.19 Cr
• Insta Flexi Cash (OD): ₹10.1L
• Car Loan: ₹50L
• Pay Later: ₹1L
• 2-Wheeler Loan: ₹3.5L

By August 2024, those numbers had only grown:

• Home Loan enhanced to ₹1.60 Cr
• Personal Loan: ₹18.1L
• Loan Against Property: ₹1.21 Cr
• Education Loan: ₹30L
• and several others including Consumer EMI and Commercial Property Loans.

Now, as of the latest updates:

• Home Loan is pre-approved at ₹1.91 Cr
• Flexi Cash OD back up to ₹20L (after briefly dropping to ₹5L post LTF Sapphiro card with a ₹9L limit)
• Personal Loan: ₹38L
• and other high-ticket offers continuing to reflect solid internal credit health

No Spam, No Pressure — Just Options​

Here’s what stood out to me: not once did ICICI cold-call me to push a product. Every offer sat quietly in the app, available if I needed it — but never forced. That kind of silent efficiency matters.

Even when I applied for an EPM card via a Tier-2 branch route and got declined, the process via the corporate route turned it around in just 2 days.

My Take​

ICICI has, without a doubt, exceeded my expectations. It’s modern, responsive and offers a breadth of services without the usual friction. While it may not always be in the spotlight like HDFC or SBI, ICICI Bank deserves far more credit for its digital-first, customer-friendly approach.


This shout-out is well earned.

 

[tuhin]

I second your opinion

 

[sourpai]

Just out of curiosity, what is the big deal about various loan pre approvals? Banks do business of lending, if they know customer with good salary crediting directly into their bank accounts, then why will any bank not offer it?

What is more important is how these loan products are structured to reduce interest rate burden for consumers. For example, foreclosure penalty, interest rate indexing to repo rate etc... or reducing interest rates in case of bulk deposits such as SBI maxgain .... I believe such things are more important than loan pre approvals

 

[hender]

I’ve never been the kind of person who gets excited about banks — until recently. My journey with Citi began back in 2014 when I opened my first salary account. For nearly a decade, Citi served me well. Smooth digital experience, courteous customer care, minimal branch visits, and most importantly — no aggressive selling of loans, insurance, or FDs. I even had an overdraft limit that quietly scaled from ₹50K to ₹5L over time, which I barely used, but appreciated as an emergency backup.

But when Citi announced its retail exit in India, it left many of us at a crossroads. The idea of transitioning to Axis (the chosen successor for Citi’s retail operations) didn’t appeal to me — I’d heard one too many mixed reviews. So, I made a clean break and decided to move my salary account to ICICI Bank in July 2023.

And honestly? I didn’t expect to be this impressed.

A Quiet Start, A Solid Upgrade​

I had already opened a basic ₹10K MAB ICICI account in 2022 but hadn’t done much with it. When I updated it to a salary account, things took a turn for the better. Almost immediately after my first salary credit, I was upgraded to a Wealth Management account with zero balance requirements. That alone was a nice surprise.

Back then, I had an ICICI Amazon Pay card with a decent limit (₹3.4L) — which, in hindsight, I regret closing in pursuit of shinier cards like Sapphiro and Infinia.

The Pre-Approved Avalanche​

What followed was a stream of pre-approved offers. Within the first three months:

• Home Loan: ₹1.19 Cr
• Insta Flexi Cash (OD): ₹10.1L
• Car Loan: ₹50L
• Pay Later: ₹1L
• 2-Wheeler Loan: ₹3.5L

By August 2024, those numbers had only grown:

• Home Loan enhanced to ₹1.60 Cr
• Personal Loan: ₹18.1L
• Loan Against Property: ₹1.21 Cr
• Education Loan: ₹30L
• and several others including Consumer EMI and Commercial Property Loans.

Now, as of the latest updates:

• Home Loan is pre-approved at ₹1.91 Cr
• Flexi Cash OD back up to ₹20L (after briefly dropping to ₹5L post LTF Sapphiro card with a ₹9L limit)
• Personal Loan: ₹38L
• and other high-ticket offers continuing to reflect solid internal credit health

No Spam, No Pressure — Just Options​

Here’s what stood out to me: not once did ICICI cold-call me to push a product. Every offer sat quietly in the app, available if I needed it — but never forced. That kind of silent efficiency matters.

Even when I applied for an EPM card via a Tier-2 branch route and got declined, the process via the corporate route turned it around in just 2 days.

My Take​

ICICI has, without a doubt, exceeded my expectations. It’s modern, responsive and offers a breadth of services without the usual friction. While it may not always be in the spotlight like HDFC or SBI, ICICI Bank deserves far more credit for its digital-first, customer-friendly approach.


This shout-out is well earned.

Glad you are Happy and Positive about your Banking Experience and the offered services without disturbance.

 

[abhiaj_geek]

Glad you are Happy and Positive about your Banking Experience and the offered services without disturbance.

Are you working in icici?

 

[hender]

Are you working in icici?

I don't work. Finding Happy 😊 and Satisfied banking customer specially on TF is not so common.

 

[Hell_Kitty]

Just out of curiosity, what is the big deal about various loan pre approvals? Banks do business of lending, if they know customer with good salary crediting directly into their bank accounts, then why will any bank not offer it?

What is more important is how these loan products are structured to reduce interest rate burden for consumers. For example, foreclosure penalty, interest rate indexing to repo rate etc... or reducing interest rates in case of bulk deposits such as SBI maxgain .... I believe such things are more important than loan pre approvals

That's a totally fair point.
My post wasn’t really meant to celebrate the loan offers themselves — but more about how ICICI handled the whole relationship. The pre-approvals just stood out as a signal of how quietly and efficiently they recognize and enable customers — no cold calls, no pressure, just options sitting there if I ever need them. Coming from a background where I’ve dealt with banks aggressively pushing products or making even basic requests feel like a chore, this kind of experience felt like a refreshing shift — and worth sharing.

 

[kjs]

Yes ICICI can offer you highest value preapproved offers , but their ROI is no where closest to a PSU and they will not even try to match it. you will always end up paying 10% more ROI overall when you are banking with ICICI . In my opinion I would rather go to a PSU 5 times just in case required for any loans as the 10% ROI for a longer duration loan has huge difference on the total final amount paid.

Personally I moved my Home loan from ICICI to Central Bank and the experience was smooth , Just 1 bank visit and no processing fees.

So preapproved in my opinion is not worth if you really want to save good amount of money with some initial hassle knock bank doors in person. Remember All that Glitters is not gold.

I have one of the worst banking experience with ICICI in terms of customer service , even PSU service was far better in my 5 kms area.