Mumbai: ICICI Bank today announced the launch of two new products, namely Loan Against Deposits (LAD) and Dollar Bonds, for NRI customers at its branch in GIFT City, the Gujarat-based emerging global financial and IT services hub. ICICI Bank is the first bank to offer these products in GIFT City.

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Sriram H. Iyer, Head – of the International Banking Group, at ICICI Bank said, “We, at ICICI Bank, continue to launch solutions to meet customer needs. In line with this philosophy, we are offering Dollar Bonds and Loan against Deposits to our NRI customers through our branch at GIFT City. Foreign currency bonds are one of the preferred investment options amongst NRI clients. We want to provide our customers with the ease of banking digitally, driving a seamless journey and a hassle-free experience. As we expand our horizons, we are excited to see what lies ahead of us while we continue to create value for our customers across geographies in line with regulatory provisions.”

The key features of these offers are:

• ·Loan against Deposits (LAD): LAD resembles a loan in foreign currency against a deposit in India (including Rupee NRE FDs). The customers can avail LAD for their short-term cash requirement without having to prematurely close their Term Deposits and thereby avoid paying a penalty for breaking the deposit. They can avail up to 95%* of their deposit value. With a simple documentation process, customers can get flexible tenure with fixed or floating interest rates.
•  Dollar Bonds: It is an alternate investment option for NRIs, where they can book dollar bonds through ICICI Bank in GIFT City. The Bank offers a cohort of over 50 marquee issuers/companies for these bonds.

In addition, the other key offerings at GIFT City for NRI customers are:

•  Global Current Account: This is a non-interest-bearing account which does not require any minimum balance. It helps NRIs to deposit money in India in foreign currencies such as USD, EUR, and GBP.
• Global Savings Account: NRIs can deposit money for the short term and earn interest in this savings account.
• Term Deposits: They are similar to Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) deposits with a minimum lock-in period of seven days compared to one year for FCNR in India. Customers can deposit in currencies such as USD, EUR, and GBP.

Moreover, ICICI Bank’s branch at GIFT City offers banking solutions to corporates including Transaction Banking, Current Accounts, Foreign Currency Deposits, Trade Finance (for importers and exporters), Corporate Finance including External Commercial Borrowing and Foreign Currency Term Loans.