ICICI Bank Named ‘Celent Model Bank of the Year 2023’ Following Landmark Digital Lending Transformation with TCS
ICICI Bank has been awarded the prestigious ‘Celent Model Bank of the Year 2023’, recognising its sweeping digital transformation across retail and corporate banking. Celent’s 16th annual Model Bank Awards celebrate global institutions using technology to materially improve customer experiences, while offering actionable insights to the industry. Among hundreds of global case studies, ICICI Bank stood out for delivering six major technology initiatives including fully digitised credit card journeys, advanced automation in corporate trade finance and the launch of iLens platform. Celent noted that the bank’s achievements reflect a shift from isolated digital upgrades to an enterprise-wide redesign of banking services. ICICI Bank was commended for frictionless onboarding, AI-driven request automation, conversational IVR, automated email servicing, and integrated trade finance portals positioning it among global leaders developing deeply connected, cloud-ready ecosystems.
Reacting to the honour, V. V. Balaji, Chief Technology Officer at ICICI Bank, said the award affirms the bank’s strategy of reimagining customer journeys through technology. He noted that the recognition reflects the maturity of the bank’s digital platforms and its sustained investments in data, cloud, and design-led experiences. Balaji added that the bank is entering its next phase of transformation with iLens digital lending platform whose successful deployment marks a significant step forward, fundamentally reshaping how customers experience credit with greater speed, visibility, and trust.
ICICI Bank’s digital momentum stems from a multi-year transformation agenda that intensified through 2020–2022, driven by platform-based thinking, digitisation of end-to-end processes and advanced analytics. Senior leadership has repeatedly emphasised the ambition to evolve from a traditional bank into a “BankTech organisation”. The award comes on the heels of a major milestone for ICICI Bank, the launch of its ambitious iLens Digital Lending Platform in November 2022. Co-developed with TCS, the platform digitises the entire home lending lifecycle from application and onboarding to verification, underwriting, documentation and disbursal through a unified, mobile-first architecture. With more than 130 API integrations, AI-enabled models and automated decision engines, iLens dramatically shortens loan turnaround times while giving customers real-time transparency and paperless fulfilment.
Highlighting the collaboration, Ujjwal Mathur, Country Head, TCS India, said, “ICICI Bank had a bold vision to build a scalable, secure and intelligent digital lending engine. Our role was to bring disciplined technology leadership to realise that vision. iLens is now a live demonstration of how the strengths of banking and engineering can combine to create meaningful impact for millions.”
As Chief Enterprise Architect for ICICI Bank’s Digital Transformation and the iLens program, Deepti Pandey has been instrumental in shaping the bank’s technology vision. She led the overall technology strategy, governance, and architecture design for the iLens platform, ensuring it was innovative, commercially scalable, and aligned with ICICI Bank’s long-term roadmap. Built on a cloud-native architecture and powered by AI/ML decisioning frameworks, the platform enables end-to-end digital lending workflows, including digital onboarding, identity verification, KYC, and data-driven credit scoring and risk models. As Deepti mentioned, “Our mission was to build a platform that not only accelerates digital lending but also delivers a seamless, secure, and scalable experience for customers. By leveraging cloud-native design and advanced analytics, we’ve created a foundation that will redefine the future of banking.”
The TCS engineering and architecture teams brought TCS’s proven expertise in cloud-native development, AI-led automation, and digital governance frameworks to deliver an end-to-end “Application to Disbursement” digital lending experience.
The Celent award highlights the bank’s disciplined technology strategy, architectural excellence, and customer-centric design, elements that together create a sustainable competitive edge. With iLens now live for home lending and poised for expansion into personal, auto, and credit-card lending workflows, experts believe ICICI Bank is set to redefine digital lending standards in India.
This confidence is well-founded: by FY2021, 90% of personal loans and 75% of credit cards were sourced digitally, with mobile and online channels dominating customer interactions. As ICICI Bank enters this next phase, the financial sector will be watching closely to see how it leverages its digital strength to deliver transformative customer impact.
