Citi named Best Foreign Investment Bank in Vietnam

“Citi’s strength lies in its balance…no country in the region accounts for more than 12 per cent of its revenues. This spread is helping the bank to put a focus on inter-Asian country flows, as well as the familiar territory of helping Asian companies move to other continents. Citi’s pitch to those clients is that it can help them go global, providing everything from trade finance to M&A advisory,” wrote FinanceAsia.

“In a highly competitive market this independent recognition is greatly appreciated by all of us at Citi. I would also like to thank our clients who place their trust in us to meet their financial needs. Asia is at the heart of Citi’s growth strategy and we are well placed to capture more of the growth opportunities in this region,” said Francisco Aristeguieta, CEO for Citi in Asia Pacific, as he picked up the Best Bank award at the annual awards dinner in Hong Kong on February 16.

The last 12 months were pivotal in Citi’s 115-year history in Asia, with a deliberate shift in strategy in response to the market environment to generate growth. In institutional banking, Citi helped raise over $150 billion for clients and advised on over $85 billion of M&A for client in the region during 2016, according to Dealogic data.

During 2016 Citi’s Consumer Banking business in Asia Pacific, that spans 12 of 19 global consumer markets globally, was further transformed to a model that is simpler, dramatically faster, more scalable and far more digital.

On average, Citi announced a new digital innovation or partnership fortnightly in the last 12 months. Today, more than half of the bank’s consumer bank clients use digital channels with mobile being the fastest growing channel with 35 per cent growth year-on-year. One out of every four new credit card accounts acquired comes from digital sources and over 50 per cent of our clients are actively using digital banking channels, up from 30 per cent three years ago.

Over the last year Citi launched the newly-refreshed Citi Mobile App featuring easy-to-use functionality and interfaces such as Snapshot and Touch ID which has seen over two million downloads to-date. The bank also was the first to launch Voice Biometrics across the region which has since received more than 700,000 sign-ups from customers with over one million clients consenting.

Citi reported strong financials in Asia during 2016. In the fourth quarter 2016 the bank reported revenues of $3.2 billion up 4 per cent year-on-year with EBIT of $1.2 billion up 18 per cent year-on-year.

For 2016 overall, Citi Asia Pacific generated revenues of $13.2 billion and EBIT and net income of $4.9 billion and $3.3 billion respectively.