ICICI Bank is also India’s foremost technology bank. The Bank uses IT as a strategic tool in all the business operations, so as to gain a competitive advantage. The IT based initiatives have been aimed at enhancing value by integrating diverse products, offering customer convenience and improved service while optimising costs. The Bank has also pioneered several technology-based remittance offerings and has garnered a leadership in the India-linked remittance market with a market share of over 15 per cent.

The Bank set up the International Banking Group (IBG) in the year 2002 to implement a focused strategy for its international banking business. ICICI Bank believes that a home country linked approach is a very effective entry strategy for new international markets. The Bank has initially focused on serving the entire range of investment, remittance and financing needs of non-resident Indians (NRIs), offering trade related services on both the domestic and the overseas fronts, and supporting Indian corporates for their funding needs abroad.

ICICI Bank's international presence spans 12 countries and includes three wholly owned subsidiaries in the UK, Russia and Canada, offshore banking units in Singapore, Hong Kong and Bahrain, and representative offices in US, China, UAE, Bangladesh and South Africa. ICICI Bank has also established an Off-shore Banking Unit at SEEPZ, Mumbai, India.

The international operations of ICICI Bank diversify risks, accelerate growth and enhance profitability for the Bank. The Bank's strong retail network in India, technology enabled operations, superior servicing capabilities and corporate relationships in India provide it with a distinctive competitive advantage in each of the services it offers overseas.

ICICI Bank is committed to the communities in which it operates and supports a diverse range of social projects in the areas of child health, universal elementary education and micro-finance services. These social initiatives are designed to improve the capacities of the poorest of the poor to participate in the larger economy.

Our International Operations

United Kingdom: Set up in November 2003 as a fully owned subsidiary, ICICI Bank UK Limited undertakes both retail and corporate banking activities. The retail activities focus on deposit taking and business banking for its ethnic high net worth client base.

The corporate banking business encompasses international and emerging market loan syndication, structured and trade finance. ICICI Bank UK has a strategic alliance with Llyods TSB of UK for offering India-linked services to customers through Lloyds Bank’s branches.

Canada: Established in December 2003 as a fully owned subsidiary, ICICI Bank Canada is a full-service direct bank, and a member of Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC). The subsidiary offers a wide range of financial solutions to cater to personal, commercial and trade requirements of customers.

Singapore: The Monetary Authority of Singapore granted ICICI Bank a license to transact banking business in Singapore with effect from August 2003 and the overseas offshore branch commenced operations in September 2003. ICICI Bank envisages the Singapore Offshore Branch as a hub for business in the Asia-Pacific region.

The focus for the offshore branch is meeting overseas financing requirements of the Indian corporates and their offshore ventures; providing trade finance and services to support India's trade with Singapore and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region; meeting the local banking and India related financial requirements of the global Indian community; and building treasury operations in Singapore that will complement and support ICICI Bank's international operations.

Bahrain: The operations at the Bahrain offshore banking unit commenced in October 2004 following the granting of license from the Bahrain Monetary Agency with a special permission to provide NRI banking services. ICICI Bank envisages the Bahrain offshore branch as a hub for business in the Middle East.

ICICI Bank, Bahrain, offers its NRI clients a wide range of customer friendly products like High Yield Deposits, remittance facilities and attractive investment options.

Hong Kong: ICICI Bank set up its Hong Kong branch in November 2005. This branch offers retail and corporate banking services, trade finance, remittances, investment advisory services, real estate opportunities, portfolio management services and joint advisory services.

Sri Lanka: ICICI Bank set up its Sri Lanka branch in January 2006. This branch offers a wide range of retail and corporate banking products and services.


Representative Offices

ICICI Bank has a representative office in the United States (New York), which was set up in 2002. The Dubai and China (Shanghai) representative offices were launched in October 2003 while Bangladesh (Dhaka) representative office commenced operations in August 2004. The South Africa representative office is the most recent overseas operation to be started by the Bank. The office was launched in April 2005 in Johannesburg.

ICICI Bank enhanced its presence in Dubai by setting up a wealth management branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in Decemeber 2005.