Citi Korea dead set on doubling AUMs in wealth management business by 2020

The bank also targets to grow its deposits by 30%.

Citi Korea has announced further investments and targets to support the transformation of its Consumer Banking business in the country to drive growth across its businesses including wealth management, cards, lending and commercial banking with an emphasis on further digitization.

Citi Korea aims to grow target segment customers by 50% across the emerging affluent and affluent segments and double AUMs in its Wealth Management business by 2020 and to grow its deposits in the country by 30%.

It also announced a target to reach 80% of new credit card customer acquisitions via digital and the bank will also invest further in Consumer Lending by launching innovative lending hubs that increase non-branch acquisitions from 60% to over 90%.

“Banking today is less about branches and more about digital. We are deploying our bankers to support the changing preferences of our client across new innovative wealth and lending hubs and central engagement teams. A priority is also ensuring our teams are trained and able to serve clients across multiple channels so that Citi is offering Korea’s leading digital banking experience,” said Brendan Carney, Consumer Banking Head Citi Korea.

Building on the successful launch of several wealth management centers in recent years and the bank’s well-received NEW Citi mobile banking app, which has received over 400,000 downloads to date, this growth will be supported by the following investments:

Expanding the number of wealth management centers with launches in Seoul, Dogok, and Bundang in addition to the Banpo and Cheongdam Centers.

The launch of lending centers focusing on consumer and commercial lending activities in key areas.

Increased banker mobility, with tools and processes that allow the banks’ relationship managers to fully service customers outside of the branch environment.

Continued digital transformation, with the launch of a revamped internet banking platform in May that will include many of the innovations found in the NEW Citi mobile app including no certificate required, simplified transaction flow and increased security.

Enhanced non-face to face capabilities that can serve customers effectively without requiring them to visit a branch to meet the changing needs of clients.

“Citi is committed to the Korean consumer banking market and these investments will support further growth in our franchise. The number of clients visiting branches has fallen dramatically. We are responding to the changing preferences of our clients by investing further in digitization that allows us to serve customers wherever they want to bank with us,” said Brendan Carney.

Korea is one of Citi’s core markets globally, providing clients with services covering Institutional Banking including Corporate and Investment banking, Markets and Securities Services and Treasury and Trade Solutions and the Consumer Banking business. The new Consumer Banking growth strategy has no impact on the bank’s market leading Institutional businesses.

This next-generation consumer banking strategy is aimed at building on the bank’s strong digital progress where 95% of the bank’s financial transactions in the Korean financial market take place through non-face-to-face channels due to the development of digital banking.
This strategy will support Citi Korea’s strategy to pursue sustainable and balanced growth in each business sector building upon the banks’ strong BIS capital ratio in Korea, one of the strongest in the industry.