Citibank, the consumer division of Citigroup (financial services multinational company), looks forward to the debit card and credit card spending by its customers in November to be at par with the same performance level in the year-ago period.
Arjun Chowdhry, Head of Credit Cards, Payments, and Unsecured Lending of Citibank conveyed his viewpoint that the festive schemes offered by the bank in November can be the major leading factor for the increment in card spending. Over half of India’s GDP is determined by consumption expenditure and so the revival of economic conditions is an important factor to be considered seriously. Citibank envisions this increment in card spending as a great positive sign towards the revival of economic conditions in India.
The bank had organized over 100 offers to its customers through brand tie-ups as part of the festival season. These offers will extend till late December, and the bank had already experienced an over three-fold hike in sales in the initial days of the campaign. The main intention behind these tie-ups is to provide value to customers for their association with the bank and also to enhance the banker-customer relationship.
Ashu Khullar, Citibank’s Chief Executive for India commented that the bank is giving priority to certain offers for products and services that are found as most important to the customers and they are also offering special rates to sustain their aspirations.
In October, Chowdhry said that the customers spending on bank’s credit and debit cards were stood at 80 percent of the year-ago period and have been on an upward movement. In his statement in October, he added that they expect the spending in November to be at par with the performance level in the year-ago period, specifically mentioning certain categories like e-commerce and groceries as they seem to be very active, while airlines and travels are comparatively slow as they are yet to open up fully.
Top officials of the bank expressed their outlook that 2020 is a different year as many lives are affected by the pandemic. Due to the lockdown, some people had been holding back the spending because of their cautious attitude, while for others the opportunities are less to spend. In a statement, the bank said that at present their home loan rates start from 6.75 percent, which is the lowest in the industry. Citibank’s customers will not be charged any processing fees till the end of December.
