For the second time in three years, Citi is the world’s best digital bank. Two years ago, we lauded the bank for its ability to “innovate furiously as it anticipates the needs of clients.” Earlier that year, in March 2022, at Citi’s first investor day in five years, chief executive Jane Fraser described the financial institution she ran as a “digital-first” company.
Every year, the bank spends more on technology. In 2022, Citi spent $11 billion; last year, that number was more than $12 billion. No other financial institution compares with it in terms of investing in cutting-edge digital solutions that benefit all its clients in nearly 160 countries.
The key to Citi’s success in digital banking is its willingness to invest consistently in new and existing services. It always innovates with a purpose. Many of its best digital offerings are tried and tested as a pilot before being rolled out in other markets, then honed and expanded as augmented offerings.
“Over the past three years, we have invested in our technology to become a simpler, more efficient and competitive bank,” says Tim Ryan, head of technology and business enablement at Citi.
Shortlisted
- Revolut Mashreq
Take CitiDirect Commercial Banking, a platform first unveiled in July 2023 in the US, before being rolled out during the awards period in Hong Kong and Singapore. It brings together all the bank’s products and services on a single digital platform, covering loans, cash, trade, foreign exchange and more.
Citi Travel is a venture dreamed up with online travel agency Booking.com. It offers eligible Citi card members the chance to rent a car, book flights and select from more than 1.4 million hotels around the world on one platform. Since its launch, Citi has seen in a sharp fall in the number of telephone bookings, with almost all orders completed online or via mobile app.
In September 2023, Citi Retail Services launched Citi Pay, the bank’s new family of embedded digital payment products, which can be integrated into merchants’ shopping and checkout processes, online and in-store. Its automated app experience allows customers to complete purchases in seconds.
Another new offering is Simplified Banking, a process that gives retail bank customers a more flexible approach to managing their money. It is based on brand loyalty. The more money a customer maintains in eligible Citi deposit and investment accounts, the more valuable the benefits and services they can unlock. In the four months after its launch, nearly 300,000 customers signed up. Citi plans to expand the offering to all customers this year.
Much of the bank’s expertise lies in doing things well: innovating and unveiling new ideas but also ensuring legacy services aren’t forgotten. In 2023, Citi completed the upgrade of its entire fleet of in-branch ATMs to ensure the machines many individuals and smaller companies still rely on are safe, secure and easy to use.
It also continued to innovate in retail banking. In November 2023, Citi launched Retail Instant Debit Card to enable clients to continue spending before they receive their new card in the post. To date, more than 15,000 customers have signed up for the feature.
Over the past three years, we have invested in our technology to become a simpler, more efficient and competitive bank
Tim Ryan
Wayfinder is a predictive multi-channel solution that helps customers find what they need – then connects them to the best-practice Citi solution.
CitiDirect, its global online banking platform, is a highly resilient transaction banking platform that delivers ultra-intuitive payment submission, streamlined supporting-document submission and simplified foreign-exchange integration services to customers across the world.
And consider the data. Mobile adoption rose 12% year on year in 2023, with customer satisfaction up 18% over the period and the click-through rate for Citi’s app downloads rising 10%. Since September 2023, three million customers have opted in to see real-time alerts on their accounts, after the bank introduced a new upgrade.
“The amount of data being created by our clients is astounding, and we see this as a huge opportunity to learn and help inform our digital product development,” says Ryan.
During the awards period, Citi also launched a new digital UK transfer agency that delivers a full set of pan-European solutions to its clients. It unveiled a new automated settlement solution that connects directly to Hong Kong’s Central Clearing and Settlement System. And it expanded digital proxy voting services into South Africa; that took the number of markets where it offers the service to 20. It has plans to expand the offering further this year.
