Asset Magazine lauds Citi and Citi Vietnam as the banks to go

Asset Magazine ranked Citi and Citi Vietnam the best banks in four categories in Asia and the Asia-Pacific

The decisions were made by the editorial team of the magazine and were based on the 12-month performance of the banks.

In the editorial write-up announcing the awards, the editors explained their pick of the best bank and the best corporate and institutional bank as follows: “Citi reported positive revenue growth last year. It opened a new office in Hong Kong One Bay East, launched voice biometrics across Asia, and added new credit card offerings across the continent. In terms of corporate and institutional banking, Citi is consistent in arranging marquee transactions across equity, equity-linked, debt capital markets, and M&A. Citi was also a trusted financial adviser and represented clients in deals such as Chinese outbound acquisitions and divestments from multinationals.”

Regarding the digital award, Asset Magazine said, “During the review period, Citi excelled in refining its mobile offering and struck a number of partnerships with new age companies. From India to Korea, Citi in the Asia-Pacific has undergone a digital transformation over the past 12 months. The bank has pushed forward with a number of digital services aimed at making customers’ lives easier. Citi has also taken a mobile-first approach to retail banking, enhancing its mobile capabilities across its regional footprint. The bank has pushed forward in its engagement with customers over social media platforms, including Line and WeChat. Moreover, the bank has continued to support the growing fintech community in Asia through its Citi Mobile Challenge.”

“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 and Vietnam is at the heart of Citi’s growth strategy and we are well placed to capture more of the growth opportunities in this region, including further digitisation and from our clients using our Asian and global network,” said Natasha Ansell, Citi Vietnam CCO.

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 clients in the region during 2016, according to Dealogic data.

During 2016, Citi’s consumer banking business in the Asia-Pacific, which spans over 12 of the 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 on a fortnightly basis in the last 12 months. Today, more than half of the bank’s consumer banking clients uses digital channels, with mobile being the fastest growing channel (35 per cent growth year-on-year). One 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 the 30 per cent three years ago.

During 2016, Citi announced strategic partnerships in leading digital ecosystems across the region. Some of these included Alipay and WeChat in China and Line in Thailand and Taiwan. The bank also formed digital credit card partnerships with the likes of Amazon, Airbnb, Grab, Uber, and Lazada in various countries across Asia.

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 was also the first to launch Voice Biometrics across the region, which has since received more than one million sign-ups from customers.

Citi Bank's new strategy brought partnerships and digital innovation, a knock-out mix for success during the last 12 months

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. 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.