| Media Release - 26 August 2010 |
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| Newsroom |
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| CITI TO CARVE NICHE AS THE DIGITAL BANK IN AUSTRALIA |
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| Sydney, 26 August, 2010: On the 25th anniversary of Citi's banking licence in Australia, Citi is looking to the future of its business with plans to rollout innovative services based on the latest technologies for its retail, corporate and institutional clients over the next 12 months. |
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| Andrew Butcher, Head of Operations and Technology for Citi in Asia Pacific, said, "Citi has long been known for banking innovation, and it is a mantle we plan to retain with the intelligent use of the latest technology. Our strategy is focussed on providing services that are global, simple, cost efficient, fast and secure." |
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| Citi will roll out the following products and services in Australia over the next 12 months: |
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- CitiFX Pulse, an updated foreign exchange trading platform for corporate clients
- Mobile Banking for Citibank customers
- CitiDirect BE, the next generation of online technology platform for clients in treasury teams
- A hi-tech "Smart Banking" branch in Sydney
- Citi Velocity, a new electronic distribution platform for clients of Global Markets
- The next generation of Citi Smart, the trading engine for institutional investors.
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| In March this year, Citibank introduced the next generation of online banking in Australia and was the first retail bank to provide a single online view of local and offshore accounts with the bank. It also provides customers with the ability to transact between those accounts instantly and fee-free. |
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| Stephen Roberts, Citi Country Officer and CEO of the Institutional Clients Group for Australia and New Zealand, said, "Technology has always been at the core of our businesses, but from hereon will be a competitive differentiator. In the institutional business, we have the size and scale to introduce the fastest and most comprehensive systems in the market and believe this will be key to maintaining our leadership in the securities and corporate banking markets." |
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| Roy Gori, CEO of Citibank in Australia, said, "Our goal is to be the bank for globally-minded and globally mobile people, along with those who are affluent or aspiring affluent. Consumers are becoming more and more global - they are no longer tied to the country borders where they were born or live. We are harnessing our strength in technology to deliver innovative global banking services that delight our customers and exceed their expectations. With this infrastructure in place, we have the opportunity to lead the market in Australia." |
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| Mr Butcher said, "Our approach to investment in technology is based on a disciplined measurement of returns and value to ensure we are allocating investment dollars to the highest yielding opportunities. |
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| "We also spearhead innovations in different countries, and then deploy them on a global scale. By spreading the development of new products, we are able to get greater focus on each initiative and greater value from our entire network." |
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| The next generation of internet banking was piloted in Australia and is now being rolled out throughout the region, while the "Smart Banking" branch has been developed in Japan, CitiFX Pulse has been developed in London and Citi Velocity is being developed in New York. Citi has technologists in over 100 countries around the world. |
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| Citi has introduced many innovations to the banking and investment markets. The bank was |
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- the first in the United States to rollout ATMs - in the 1970s,
- the first in Australia to introduce electronic letters of credit - for Myers in 1982,
- the first to introduce a fully automated and anonymous crossing engine for institutional investors in Australia - through Citi Match in 2005,
- and the first, and still the only, to provide 11.00 am online deposit accounts for corporate treasury teams in 2009 - through CitiDirect in 2009.
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| Citi |
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| 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 . |
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| Media Contact: |
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| Leila Dean Tel: +61 2 8225 1223 leila.dean@citi.com |
