Citi’s Medina-Mora Plans ‘Multi-Year Investments’ in U.S. Bank
July 29, 2010, 1:00 AM EDTBy Bradley Keoun
July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., with a U.S. branch network one-sixth the size of rival Bank of America Corp.’s, plans “multi-year investments in people, infrastructure and marketing” to expand its North American consumer business, regional head Manuel Medina-Mora wrote in a memo.
Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit has given the plan “full support,” Medina-Mora, 59, wrote yesterday in a memo to employees of the New York-based bank. “By investing in our franchise we can take advantage of this opportunity to improve our business and position it for sustainable growth.”
Citigroup, which got a $45 billion bailout in 2008 and is still 18 percent owned by the U.S. Treasury Department, has tried since early 2009 to develop a strategy for the consumer business. The unit’s 1,002 banking locations in North America compare with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America’s 5,900-branch domestic network.
Under the division’s former chief, Teresa “Terri” Dial, executives held strategy sessions last year to discuss how to morph the business into a “Bank of the Future,” driven by improved Web and mobile access alongside branches, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Dial, 60, hired Michelle Peluso, the 38-year-old former head of airline- reservation website Travelocity.com, as a consultant to oversee the sessions.
Citigold
Pandit, 53, replaced Dial in January with Medina-Mora, who retained responsibility for Citigroup’s Latin American operations. Peluso now reports to Medina-Mora as the division’s full-time chief marketing officer. Medina-Mora, based in Mexico City, wrote in the memo that he had “spent the last few months evaluating and reviewing” the North American division.
The bank plans to “invest more in our sales force and marketing efforts and upgrade our distribution infrastructure,” he wrote. It also will strengthen lending to small and mid-sized businesses and invest in Citigold, Medina-Mora said.
Citigold is a brand of services that promises global travelers and executives an international network of automated teller machines, multiple currency accounts and multi-language customer support, according to the company’s website.
Citigroup also plans to develop “innovative cards and banking solutions” and a “seamless experience for our customers,” Medina-Mora wrote, echoing earlier descriptions of Dial’s “Bank of the Future.”
--Editors: David Scheer, Alec McCabe.
To contact the reporter on this story: Bradley Keoun in New York at bkeoun@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alec McCabe at amccabe@bloomberg.net.
