Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) announced an industry-first initiative in Indian banking – opening a Savings Account directly through its WhatsApp Banking Channel 900 208 2121.
The journey enables eligible new customers to open a Savings Account with Ujjivan SFB through a WhatsApp-led experience without downloading a separate banking application. The journey follows a simple step-by-step process.
A new Customer says ‘Hi’ on 900 208 2121 and chooses ‘Open Savings Account’. Post mobile & PAN verification, the customer’s CKYC or Aadhaar is verified, prefilling personal details.
Customer selects the savings account variant, funds the account and completes Video KYC. The customer can start using the account post-verification. The new journey advances Ujjivan SFB’s strategy of bringing digital banking and customer service to a conversational platform that the customer already is familiar with and feels safe and secure.
By making onboarding and routine banking services available within WhatsApp, Ujjivan SFB now gives customers another way to bank without the need to learn or navigate a new interface or install a separate application.
Over 15 lakh customers of the bank have currently adopted Ujjivan SFB’s WhatsApp Banking platform. Customers can also access more than 50+ banking services, including balance enquiries, recent transactions, account statements, deposit services, loan information, service requests, Branch & ATM locators and more.
WhatsApp Banking is fast emerging as an important customer-acquisition channel for the bank. Ujjivan’s WhatsApp Banking now manages 22% of service requests of the bank. These figures demonstrate how a conversational channel can support both everyday service and deeper engagement with the bank.
Commenting on the initiative, Carol Furtado, Interim CEO and Executive Director, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, said: “Innovation is most meaningful when it makes banking simpler and more accessible for customers.
Ujjivan’s WhatsApp Banking journey gives customers the ability to access the bank on a platform that is already part of their daily lives. By introducing digital opening and onboarding of Savings Accounts through WhatsApp, customers can experience a more convenient, intuitive, and safe banking experience beyond conventional channels.
We will continue to strengthen this platform to make banking more inclusive and responsive.”
Looking ahead, Ujjivan SFB is exploring and evaluating capabilities including generative-AI-assisted responses, guided support for multi-step customer needs, multilingual interactions, contextual product journeys, and voice- enabled assistance.
