Citibank strengthens contactless services amid prolonged pandemic

Riding the rapid digital transformation trend in the financial sector triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, Citibank Korea said Sunday it will ramp up contactless wealth management services.

The bank will hold a series of online seminars, titled “Citi Webinar On-Air,” in the second half of this year -- categorized into three sections.

One of the programs, “Open Seminars” invites all clients every other week to its YouTube channel, where it will share its outlook on global financial markets as well as foreign exchange investments.

The other section, “CPC Seminar,” includes presentations by the bank’s chief economists and foreign exchange specialists regarding various investment tools on a biweekly basis through the bank’s own mobile meeting application. This will only be available to the bank’s VIP clients -- Citi Priority, Citigold and Citi Private Client -- that mainly comprise local business owners and CEOs. For the children of VIP clients, the Next Generation session will provide financial education via Zoom, the popular remote communication platform. 

As a part of a move to protect client assets in the midst of a tumbling local financial market, the local branch of the US bank also plans to strengthen its volatility management by spreading clients’ investments in the second half. 

Under a scheme named “Model Portfolio,” the bank will keep encouraging clients to diversify their investment tools, investing in foreign currencies other than the popular US dollar. To drive up such investment diversification, the bank has recently introduced a treasury service officer to serve as a foreign exchange consultant at the bank’s major wealth management centers, the bank said. 

“Our clients were skeptical of the bank’s diversification approach at first,” said Kim Ji-kang, head of retail division at Citibank Korea. 

“However, the recent misselling fiasco, including the DLF and Lime scandals, as well as Optimus Fund’s suspension, left Citibank unscathed, adding momentum to the bank’s approach to diversify clients’ portfolios.”
Meanwhile, the size of assets of individual clients at Citibank Korea spiked 23.6 percent last year, while the number of customers with high assets saw a 16 percent rise, data showed.  

By Choi Jae-hee  (cjh@heraldcorp.com)