Citibank's Retail Operations in India to Continue as Usual

The financial services firm had planned to exit the retail accounts, credit card and mortgage business in India. The Citigroup’s franchise in the country including Citibank India as well as its consumer banking business and credit cards division, endures to function as usual, states a company official.

In the statement, Ashu Khullar, CEO, Citibank India states, “There is no immediate change to our operations and no immediate impact to our colleagues as a result of this announcement. In the interim, we will continue to serve our clients with the same care, empathy and dedication that we do today.”

Furthermore, the official, who was offering a clarification on the impact to customer operations as a result of Citigroup’s recent announcement that it strategized to exit the retail banking business in 13 markets including India, as mentioned in the bank’s recent statement. The official also added that customers of the consumer bank would be able to use of their usual services till a buyer or buyers were found for the business, after due approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Jane Fraser, CEO, Citigroup says, “We don’t have the scale we need to compete, explaining the rationale behind the decision to exit the 13 markets, We believe our capital, investment dollars and other resources are better deployed against higher returning opportunities in wealth management and our institutional businesses in Asia.”

Citigroup has begun its search for a buyer or buyers and once found, it would approach the RBI for approval, said the official. Till then it was business as usual, the official observed, concluding that generally it could take at least up to a year to complete such a transaction.

Citigroup would, however, continue to offer in India its corporate, commercial and investment banking, brokerage, treasury and trade services, securities and fund services.

Furthermore, in a statement Ashu states, “We will continue to deliver our innovative digital solutions, backed by our global network, and devote our resources to large and mid-sized Indian corporates and multinationals, financial institutions, start-ups in the new age sectors, amongst others.”

In FY20 Citibank India serviced 2.9 million retail customers with 1.2 million bank accounts and 2.2 million credit card accounts.