Public sector bank Union Bank of India and Zoho, technology company headquartered in Chennai, have achieved a significant milestone in Union Bank of India’s digital transformation journey with the successful launch and implementation of CRM Edge – an advanced customer experience platform co-created by both the organisations. At an event commemorating the collaboration at Zoho’s rural hub office in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, Union Bank of India’s MD & CEO, A. Manimekhalai, and Zoho’s Co-founder and CEO, Sridhar Vembu, showcased the shared vision and collaborative efforts that drove this transformational journey.
Since its rollout in 2023, CRM Edge has rapidly become the Bank’s primary customer engagement tool and is widely used across the Bank. It has served as a unified system for the Bank’s sales, marketing, and service teams, improving collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and workflow automation. It also streamlined essential qualification checks for eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer) like PAN and Aadhaar validation, and CIBIL checks, ensuring secure and efficient customer verification. Additionally, customer satisfaction scores are collected and tracked via Zoho Survey, which shows marked improvement in customer happiness.
The partnership between Union Bank of India and Zoho began in 2021 after the merger of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank with Union Bank of India, which significantly expanded its operations. This growth prompted the Bank to modernise its customer engagement strategy by standardising interactions and reducing reliance on its Core Banking System for customer data access. The aim was to enable personalised communication and enhance cross-selling and upselling opportunities. Zoho addressed Union Bank of India’s needs by co-creating CRM Edge, a flexible, scalable platform that seamlessly integrates with the Bank’s complex IT ecosystem and adapts to its evolving business objectives.
After implementing CRM Edge, Union Bank of India has seen significant gains in customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction, aligning with its long-term growth strategy. The Bank has also been able to automate around 90-95% of customer query processes. This automation streamlines internal task assignments and follow-ups, ensuring that customer queries are efficiently routed and managed by Bank’s internal staff to provide effective resolution. These improvements have significantly enhanced operational efficiency and response times with higher customer satisfaction.
“Zoho’s consultative approach and commitment to our vision have been instrumental in unlocking immense value in our customer experience strategy. This partnership has allowed us to transcend traditional systems and leverage modern technology to better serve our customers,” said Ms. A. Manimekhalai, Managing Director of Union Bank of India. “We look forward to exploring new opportunities for collaboration and driving further innovations,” she further added.
“We are proud to have partnered with Union Bank of India on this transformative journey. Our platform’s flexibility allowed us to co-create a customised solution that seamlessly integrates with Bank’s IT infrastructure, empowering Union Bank to drive its digital transformation with full control over it technology stack while reducing reliance on external vendors. Together, we are enhancing customer experiences through technology innovation,” said Sridhar Vembu, Co-founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation.
The Bank, in its commitment to community development in rural India and Corporate Social Responsibility, contributed to Government High Schools at Melur, Sengottai and SMSS Government Boys Higher Secondary School towards their key infrastructure and sustainability initiatives, such as sanitation improvements and installation of solar power units.
