Digitalisation, expansion of customer base to drive Citi Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Greater digitalisation and the continued expansion of its customer base will be the key drivers of Citi Malaysia’s growth moving forward.

Speaking with StarBiz at the EPF International Social Security Conference 2018 recently , Citi Malaysia chief executive officer Lee Lung Nien said the two factors would be instrumental in lifting the bank’s bottom line in tandem with Malaysia’s economic growth over the next three years.

“Going by our consistent track record of profitability year-on-year (y-o-y), we are confident of even stronger performance moving forward,” he said.

Given Citi Malaysia’s continued digitalisation initiatives over the years, the bank has digitalised nearly 85% of its services to date.

With regard to branch transactions, Citi Malaysia has seen a total reduction of about 65% through digitalisation, which has translated into cost savings for the bank.

“Our branch services are parallel to that of our mobile offerings and we are aggressive in shutting down analog to enable our clients to be fully digital.

“Today, 73% of our total consumer banking customers in Malaysia are digital customers.

“As of June 2018, 58% of total Citi Mobile users are digitally active customers, who regularly log in at least once a month to perform banking transactions. Mobile active customers have also grown by 47% y-o-y,” said Lee.

Malaysia is a key market for Citi Group in the region, with the country contributing about 3% of the group’s Asia-Pacific revenue and 13% of revenue from the Asean region.

The corporate and consumer businesses constitute the biggest chunk of Citi Malaysia’s clientele.

Asked about the prospects of Malaysia’s economy, Lee said he remains “cautiously optimistic”. He added that the country is “well on its way” to achieve high-income status. “The year has had its surprises but the country has prevailed with a strong gross domestic product growth of over 5% in the first quarter of 2018.”