How India’s top bank HDFC grew engagement rate by 30%

What comes to your mind when we ask you about the top three brands in India?

Think about it. Most probably you thought of names that have built an inclusive experience, trust and going a few miles ahead of their competitors. In short, you recalled brands that delivered on their promise of a stellar customer experience.

Little wonder then, brands that score high on CX charts also grow their loyal customer base and revenue. Just like HDFC Bank did. 

HDFC Bank is India’s premier banking and financial services company. Headquartered in Mumbai, it is world’s 10th largest bank by market capitalization as of 2021. The company boasts over 68 million customers, 6,000 branches and a full suite of credit, liability, and distribution offerings. 

With a customer base so huge, HDFC Bank is undoubtedly a big name in India. However, it did fall behind for want of a more personalized and interactive customer messaging platform. Hence, when HDFC approached Sinch with their case, we took a good look at the existing issue. 

The banking giant was using generic SMS/email communication templates leading to lower efficiency. Lack of micro insights at a persona level resulted in campaigns not performing effectively, resulting in poor customer engagement and conversion rates. And that’s where we intervened. 

With Sinch SMS and Email API, HDFC could disseminate impactful and interactive communications leading to increased customer engagement and retention. Highly personalized and visually appealing content via SMS/Email channels were rolled out resulting in 3X higher engagement and cost savings of 80% for creating same leads. HDFC’s app downloads also soared by 29%.

Since Sinch, HDFC saw 30% uptick in customer engagement, 12% increase in conversion rate and over 30% uplift in form-fills. 

Over the years, HDFC has become a household name. Thanks to a more targeted way of looking at SMS and email campaigns, the financial services company could benefit significantly. If you are a business waiting to explore the advantages of SMS API or email as a customer communication channel, you may find the following information useful. 

There’s no doubt. SMS continues to rule the roost, right from conservative companies who haven’t experimented much to modern-day businesses. With an open rate as high as 98%, the highest across any form of marketing, SMS is a quick, reliable, and accepted form of brand communication. 

The popularity of SMS has led to consumers asking for more. One-way messages for example are now passe. 89% consumers say they would like two-way messaging to take over. About 15 million consumers surveyed said they are frustrated when they can’t reply to a message. And then, there are more demands. 

Over 75% people receive brand communication via emails today and despite research that predict the death of email, it bounces back with even more businesses believing in its strength. Here’s what makes email marketing powerful. 

• Over four billion people use email, every day
• Research reveals that about 37% brands will increase their email budget
• Most people access emails on their mobiles today, 99% users check their inbox daily while 58% do so the very first thing in the morning. 73% businesses are optimizing their email for mobile devices.
• 22% email campaigns are read within an hour
• For marketers, email engagements are an important performance and acceptability metric. 

At Sinch, our powerful email API, Mailhub with 98% email deliverability beats the industry average of 84%. Request a demo to know more about how Mailhub can transform your business.

A recent survey commissioned by Sinch titled, Bank to the Future- Rethinking CX for financial services in 2022 revealed that banking customers are ready for deeper, personalized experiences so financial institutions must think about turning boring notifications into purposeful conversations. Customers are clamoring for it with 1 in 3 customers switching banks to get a better mobile experience. 

HDFC Bank has scored big already with Sinch as the communications partner. How about transforming your business? Request a demo today!