HDFC Bank is the largest Indian bank for a reason

I used to be an HDFC Bank customer from 2011 through 2019. I didn’t need much from my bank account, and I was reasonably happy. A few bad experiences with the branch staff in 2019 made me resolve that I’d never be an HDFC Bank customer again.

We had an either-or-survivor (EoS) account with Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). When DBS Bank took over LVB, they absolutely messed up the EoS operation mode of our account. They revoked online access of the joint holders without even telling us! We ended up going back to HDFC Bank for this EoS account because there weren’t any other good option in our town.

A year or so later, I opened a salary account with HDFC Bank since they had some very good offers for Google employees. I also got their top-of-the line Infinia credit card, which allowed me to simplify my credit card portfolio significantly.

In the recent months, I have observed that HDFC Bank has built an attractive bundle of solutions to serve its customers.

• They have credit cards that most people in the country find attractive. (Competition from Axis Magnus fizzled away quickly primarily because of Axis Bank’s hurried reversal of all benefits.)
• SmartPay for bill payments is amazing. I have added all my bills—utility bills, credit card bills, everything—and SmartPay automatically pays the bills on time. I think the factors that make SmartPay different are: (i) the ability to pay even credit card bills not integrated with Bharat Bill Pay and (ii) the ability to pay using any of your payment instrument, be it bank account or credit card or debit card.
• SmartBuy and PayZapp aggregate and organise all discount offers in one place. Every bank has partners that give discounts, but the SmartBuy portal makes utilising those offers a lot easier. This is HDFC Bank going the extra mile to make sure that everyone in the ecosystem—the bank itself, the customers, and the bank’s partners—actually benefit from the offers.
• Features and offers tailored to specific demographics. The bank finds out what different subsets of their customer base may need and they build effective solutions for them.
• Google employees get Alphabet shares as RSUs (restricted stock units). We sell those shares and bring the money to India. HDFC Bank offers an incredible forex conversion rate for such remittances. (This rate is even better than what Wise gives. That should tell you how good this offer is.)
• Their credit cards for non-salaried businesspeople, (e.g. BizPower) gives rewards for paying GST. Paying GST through a credit card means the customer gets interest-free credit for over a month and they also earn rewards for it!

HDFC Bank is not the flashiest. Some of their processes are old school because they have been in this for decades. But the solution suite that they have built is compelling. They are the largest bank in India, and that’s not by accident. They have earned this place by serving the real needs of their customers.