| Media release |
|
| Newsroom |
|
| VIRGIN MONEY LAUNCHES RETAIL BANKING IN AUSTRALIA
Virgin Money and Citibank join forces to bring competition for Australians |
|
| Sydney, 27 July 2010: Today Virgin Money unveiled its ambitious plans to grow its retail banking business in Australia through a strategic alliance with Citibank. |
|
| Virgin's Sir Richard Branson today unveiled two credit cards and an online savings account as the first of a full suite of banking products to be launched under the Virgin Money brand. |
|
| Matt Baxby, Managing Director for Virgin Money Australia, said the alliance with Citibank will provide much needed competition in the highly consolidated finance sector. |
|
| "Virgin Money has entered into a 10-year arrangement with Citibank to deliver a full suite of banking products to the Australian market place. We have a long term view, with a shared vision and an agreed goal sheet to grow the business in a sustainable way," Mr Baxby said. |
|
| "The arrangement is broad and will allow us to jointly develop and launch innovative, great value products that will offer real choice to consumers. From a business perspective, these products will be launched strategically according to market conditions and to fill gaps in consumer need." |
|
| "The major Australian banks control a staggering 80 percent of the market, so we're aiming to create a more competitive landscape and provide consumers with much needed choice. Australians have embraced the Virgin Money brand with nearly 90 percent of Australians wanting Virgin Money in banking. So we intend to deliver on what Australian consumers want - the right products with the right service at the right price. The market is ripe for Virgin Money to enter the space." |
|
| Citibank Australia CEO, Roy Gori said the strategic alliance was part of a two-pronged strategy to grow Citibank's Australian business through organic growth and strategic alliances. |
|
| "The business rationale for the Citibank-Virgin Money alliance makes sense. Virgin has a powerful brand with high awareness and specialist marketing capabilities. Citibank is bringing to the table our long and proven history of innovation in every aspect of consumer banking, our technology infrastructure, portfolio management capabilities, and expertise in product distribution," Mr Gori said. |
|
| "The turbulent economic conditions of the past couple of years have begun to lift, giving us a great platform to leverage our strategic alliance with Virgin Money and grow our business in a fresh direction by tapping into a consumer segment we don't naturally target under our own brand." |
|
| Virgin Money's first suite of retail banking products includes two credit cards - The Virgin Flyer Credit Card and The Virgin No Annual Fee Credit Card, and a market leading online savings account, The Virgin Saver. |
|
| The Citibank Disaster Relief Program includes: |
|
|
|
| Media enquiries: |
|
| Kristen Kaus,Citibank: T: (02) 8225 1631 M:0421 380 773 E: kristen.kaus@citi.com |
|
| Notes to Editors: |
|
| See virginmoney.com.au for details of the Virgin Money products. |
|
| About Virgin Money |
|
| Virgin Money is the financial services arm of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Established in Australia in 2003, Virgin Money offers a range of financial products including credit cards, savings accounts, superannuation and car insurance. Virgin Money promises to offer customers a great value, honest and transparent alternative to personal finance. Shaking up the Australian finance scene and driving fair competition to make everyone better off remains the primary focus of everyone at Virgin Money. |
|
| About Citibank |
|
| Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.au. |
|
| The credit cards issued under the Virgin Money brand in alliance with Citibank, will be exclusively issued through Visa - the world's no. 1 accepted credit card. |
