Citi Bank India: No Employee Will Be Fired, No Banking Customer Will Be Impacted; New Buyer Will Takeover

Citibank announced on Thursday that it will be exiting 13 international consumer banking markets, including India and China as part of its global strategy. It has begun looking for a buyer for its consumer business in India. The company said it will focus its global consumer banking business on four markets: Singapore, Hong Kong, London and the United Arab Emirates.

 Till the time the sale happens, there will be no impact on existing customers and staff in India, said a Citibank official to Moneycontrol on Thursday.

Impact On Indian Customers

Citibank had 2.9 million retail customers in India as of March 2020, with 1.2 million bank accounts and 2.2 million credit card accounts. In India, Citibank has 35 branches and employs over 19,000 employees.

Citibank’s main offices are in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Gurugram. It provides institutional banking services as well as offshoring or global business support in India.

Citi India’s Chief Executive Ashu Khullar, has confirmed that the decision would have no immediate effect on the company’s employees or operations in India.

“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,” he told PTI.

City Bank Looking For Buyers

The company has said that it has begun looking for a buyer, officials told Moneycontrol.com.

“Citi is not closing down its consumer business here, but only exiting. There will not be any impact on the existing customers and staff in India due to this decision. We will now look for a buyer for the Indian consumer business segment and will also seek necessary regulatory approvals,” the official said.

According to the official, Citi will continue to concentrate on the wholesale market in India.

 “We will invest more in this segment,” the official added. Citigroup announced on April 15 that it will shutter retail banking operations in 13 countries including India and China.

The company has said that it will exit consumer/retail operations in 13 countries across Asia and Europe. The 13 nations are Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

 Notably, investment banking operations will continue in markets where the company is ending consumer operations.

In a separate statement, Ashu Khullar, CEO of Citi India said that Citi has been “a deeply imbedded institution in India and the sharpened strategy announced today will strengthen our ability to bring the full global power of Citi to our institutional clients, reinforcing our leading positions across Corporate, Commercial and Investment Banking, Treasury and Trade Solutions, as well as Markets and Securities Services.”

“We will continue to tap into the rich talent pool available here to continue to grow our five Citi Solution Centers which support our global footprint. 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,” Khullar said.