The Hindu Business Line : Women’s interest

It is a hot, lazy afternoon and the temperature outside is a high 38 degrees Celsius. Inside, the cool environs is made even more soothing by the soft voice of a joint-pain specialist advising a group of women on pain management; many participants are senior citizens. And, no, we are not at any of the many super-speciality hospitals that now dot cities big and small. We are inside a bank — an all-women’s branch of Standard Chartered Bank in Kolkata.

These are sessions which the country’s largest multinational bank started a year ago as a pilot project and it is now proving to be a good experience for the bank and the customers alike.

Held at regular intervals, the activities under the ‘diversity and inclusive banking’ project of the bank primarily aim to provide financial independence to women customers. The branch, in an upmarket residential locality, has an all-women staff, including women security guards.

Says Shazi Anwar, regional head - branch banking (east), “The idea was thrown up by a research on customer focus which showed that women customers were very warm to the idea.” And not only the women customers but also their friends were welcome to participate in the many events that the branch has held since its inception in May last year.

According to Julie Sharma, who heads the all-women branch, which now has 7,000 customers, women seem to like the idea and the comfort level among them is very high. Says Bandana Das, a senior citizen who has been banking at the branch for the past 20 years, “I stay all by myself and the suggestions they make for my investments are helpful. I discuss them with my children, who live outside the city, but the advice is always helpful.”

Julie says that since inception the branch has held sessions with financial experts who explain to the women the nuances of the stock market, mutual funds and insurance. “This becomes a sort of empowerment for the women and they then feel encouraged to ask a lot of questions on the global scene… their incisive questions have surprised me at times,” she says.

Catch them young

The bank now plans a programme in association with the convent school located opposite, to introduce high-school girls to the world of finance. “The idea is to provide a comfortable environment to the lwomen where they will feel free to ask questions… we wanted to share information without looking at the business angle,” says Shazi.

However, it is not as if the sessions are restricted to serious discussions on finance. To mark Women’s Day, for instance, the branch had organised a hair and skincare session by the VLCC fitness chain. VLCC also held a weight-management session at the branch to check the bone-density index of women and offer free dietary advice.

“The sessions aimed at pampering our customers while also promoting the business of outfits like VLCC, which have their units close by. The bank just provides the forum for the two to interact.” For its first anniversary celebration, the branch hosted a musical evening for its customers that saw, what else, an all-women band playing for them. Additionally, it organised a fete, where children could accompany their mothers.

Funding women power

So what’s in it for the bank? Bank officials scoff at any attempt to see this as a business promotion venture. “It is only a concept that we are trying to promote,” they say. The bank kicked off the exercise from Kolkata as this is the city where they began their journey in India 150 years ago. The bank plans to take the initiative to other cities too.

Explains Rajashree Nambiar, head of branch banking - India, “Standard Chartered believes in women’s empowerment, which it extends not only to its employees, but also to its customers. With the increasing number of women account-holders nationally, we constantly feel the need to innovate, keeping their best interests in mind.”

But how do the male customers react to an all-women staff? Says K.K. Niyogi, a long-time customer at the branch. “Initially I was against the idea as I could relate better with the men who were earlier posted here and with whom I had developed a long-standing relationship, I wondered if women could be competent in such areas. But now I am happy. I get good service from them and they treat me and my wife well. They nudged her gardening enthusiasm by presenting her with saplings on World Environment Day,” he chuckles.

The branch certainly seems to be spreading happiness and cheer. In the words of Bandana, who ignores her aching knees to climb the stairs to the branch just to check her balance over an occasional cup of coffee, “the ambience is good... I like just hopping over here when I am free.”

And talking of ambience, occupying the branch is a large, contented-looking idol of Lord Ganesha adorned by fragrant, freshly-strung jasmine flowers.

Standard Chartered Bank too has smelt success with its pilot and recently opened its second all-women branch in Delhi. A national rollout is now being given the final touches. Incidentally, two such all-women branches have been opened in Pakistan.

More Stories on : Gender | Foreign Banks | Customer Relationship Management

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