Have you stopped using cash for most of your weekend mall purchases and extravagant dinners at restaurants? And flash your credit or debit card every time you have to pay that bill?

If yes, then keep an eye on the shopkeeper who is swiping it because he can clone your card. This is done by swiping the card on a device called a skimmer, which captures the information stored on the magnetic strip of the card.

This has happened to Rohan and Sarita Joshi of Mumbai. Sarita's eyes popped out reading an SMS Citibank sent her one morning. The SMS asked her to confirm whether she had made high value transactions worth Rs 2.82 lakh in Delhi using her Citibank credit card the previous day.

Joshi had last used her card when she was travelling abroad more than a month back. The card, which was an add-on card to her husband's credit card, lay in her safety vault.

"I was in Mumbai and the transactions on my card happened in Delhi," says Joshi, who found this after a few calls to the call centre.

The call centre attendant also told Joshi that there were five high-value transactions.

"We were shocked, refuted the claim and immediately blocked the card," she says. Eight transactions between Rs 29,000 and Rs 41,000 each at three merchants based out of Delhi.

She and her husband had to make several trips to the police station and many calls to various levels of bank officials. Sarita even sent an email to Sanjay Nayar, the chief executive officer of Citigroup in India.

The bank, after carrying out an investigation, decided to reverse the outstanding amount of fraudulent transactions worth Rs 2.82 lakh. "We were told that the fraud was a case of card information being skimmed and the bank later issued a letter stating that the charges had been reversed," Joshi told DNA.

Citibank told DNA, "The case has been investigated in detail and the customer has been provided credit to the full extent of the disputed amount. In fact, the fraudulent transactions on this card (and some others) were proactively detected by our monitoring unit and thereafter the relevant authorities, including the police, the acquiring bank and the card association have been kept informed. The method used to conduct these fraudulent transactions is globally termed as skimming."

If a fraud is detected and confirmed by the customer, Citibank immediately blocks the card and reissues a new credit card to the customer, the spokesperson said.

However, the entire process of getting the charges rolled back was quite an ordeal for the Joshis.

All credit card users should make a mental note of a case that has come up before the Supreme Court. The verdict the apex court gives will decide the interest consumers have to pay on card outstandings.

Citibank NA has moved the Supreme Court, challenging an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, which restrained the bank from charging an interest rate of over 30 per cent a year to citibank credit card holders who fail to make full payment on the due date.

A bench comprising Justice BN Agrawal and Justice GS Singhvi on Friday said that the matter will be heard on September 8. The court refused to hear the plea of the bank on an urgent basis.

The matter, which relates to a balancing of consumer protection and regulatory powers, assumes importance given the fierce growth of credit card use, overspending and delinquency in recent years. Notably, similar issues had resulted in new legislations in advanced markets.

In an appeal filed through counsel RS Suri, Citibank said that such capping of rates of interest on credit card payment was contrary to RBI policy. The US-based bank pointed out that the central bank in its circular of July 23, 2008 had said that banks prescribe their respective ceiling rate of interest in respect of small-value personal loans and this would apply to credit card dues as well. RBI had clearly stated that banks were free to determine rates of interest on non-priority sector personal loans without reference to the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) and regardless of the size of loan.

"The imposition of an upper cap of interest to a degree turned non-priority sector lending to priority sector lending," said Citibank. Further, "the commission failed to appreciate that the market in India is still at a developing stage and the risk of default is relatively high, and legal remedy has its own costs. An emerging market like India also has a high cost of acquisition and a high cost of servicing an account as compared to other mature markets," said Citibank.

It may be mentioned that in markets like the US, there are legislations like the Truth in Lending Act - which requires banks to state upfront all charges on the product - primarily to enable the consumer to shop around for the best deal. In the UK, the Fair Trade Commission, formed under the Consumer Credit Act, ensures that there is a fair deal between the consumer and the bank.

Banks argue that credit card is a transnational product and the level of interaction between the bank and customer is intensive, for which the bank engages a large workforce to facilitate customer services. For example, Citibank receives 700,000 calls per month on its helplines, in addition to about 65,000 emails and 15,000 letters per month from card holders, said the appeal.

When it comes to analyzing corporate performance, individual investors are surely at a disadvantage. You will find it difficult to know how many cars Tata Motors will make in 2009, how many hotel rooms Indian Hotels will be able to sell in Europe, etc. However the ``international`` fund manager has access to all this and more information. Moreover, he cannot ``analyze`` the numbers once he gets them.

However if you define experts Morgan Stanley, J P Morgan, Citibank, UBS... please think again. They are not experts; they are in the business of selling financial products. Look at the amount of write-offs that they are doing. Look at the amount of downsizing.

Did you see the apologies that UBS and Citibank have been giving. Did you see the amount of credit derivatives that Citi has been forced to take back from clients? It is scary.

Citibank in one of the TV interviews said ``we will make money in India for the losses in sub-prime``.

Unless they make 70% commissions in unit linked insurance and fantastic commissions in Mutual funds, I do not know how.

India's banks are again quietly raising interest rates on credit card loans. And sticking it in the fine print.

And, this time, instead of going for across-the-board hike, banks are starting to discriminate, using credit history and other segmentation to push some customers into higher rate bands.

For instance, ICICI Bank Ltd, India's largest private sector lender and the biggest credit card issuer with a card base of around 8.5 million, is now charging many of its customers 3.4%, up from 3.14% just weeks ago. It has also reduced the maximum credit-free period from 52 days to 48 days. Credit-free period is the time given by a bank to a customer to make payments on credit card purchases without having to pay any interest.
The hike in interest rates across banks examined by Mint is 25-30 basis points. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Since interest rate on credit cards is charged monthly, a 30 basis points raise translates into a 3.6 percentage points hike in annual interest rates.

An ICICI Bank official said the bank's interest rate band for credit cards is 1.5-3.4%. Foreign banks, such as Citibank NA and Standard Chartered Bank, have also started charging their credit customers higher rates within an interest rate band. The interest band of Citibank is 1.49-3.5% and that of Standard Chartered 2.49-3.4%.
HDFC Bank Ltd, which has roughly half of ICICI Bank's credit card base, is raising its interest rate band from 2.75-2.95% to 3.05-3.25% from 1 September.

Parag Rao, head of product portfolio and service delivery credit cards at HDFC Bank, said: "The increase in interest rates is in line with market. We have not tinkered with the credit-free period as this could have an impact on the repayment of customers." He also claimed that HDFC Bank's rates were lower than the market and it has "corrected the disparity".

State Bank of India (SBI), which runs a credit card joint venture with GE Capital Services, the largest issuer of private label credit cards in the world, said it hasn't yet taken a decision on interest rates even as Diwakar Gupta, chief executive of SBI Cards and Payment Services Pvt. Ltd, noted that "credit is getting costlier".

According to Gupta, "the (interest) rates will either remain stable, or move up from here". SBI Cards' current interest rate band is 2.6-3.1%.

A rise in interest rates on credit cards does not affect all cardholders as only those customers who roll over some portion of their credit need to pay interest on amounts due. Such customers are believed to make up around 40% of the almost 28 million credit card users in India.

Even as the subprime crisis batters Citi globally, its Indian operations have doubled profit for the year ended March 31, 2008. The bank reported a net profit of Rs 1,804 crore against Rs 900 crore in the previous fiscal.

On a conglomerate basis, the net profit has jumped 65% to Rs 2,596 crore from Rs 1,575 crore the previous fiscal. This is despite the fact that consumer finance NBFC Citi Financial has seen a drastic drop in its profits.

India has become one of the largest international contributors for Citi's global profit. In fact, the corporate investment bank was one of the largest contributors to its Asian operations. Citi has now become the largest foreign bank in the country both on net profit basis and balance sheet size. Nowadays citibank credit card are offering a variety of good rewards programs so check them out to enjoy all their benefits.

In fact, Citi, with a network of 39 branches, has managed to make more profits than some of the bigger public and private sector banks. The balance sheet of the Citibank has risen by 26% to Rs 83,851 crore. The Indian operations of Standard Chartered Bank had reported a 25% rise in net profit at Rs 1,706 crore for the year ended March 31, 2008 while its balance sheet size expanded 25% to Rs 73,445 crore.

Among the bigger public sector banks Punjab National Bank had reported a net profit of Rs 2,048.76 crore while Canara Bank reported a net profit of Rs 1,565 crore. HDFC Bank, the country's second-largest private bank has reported a net profit of Rs 1,590 crore for the year.

However, Citi Financial the consumer finance NBFC of the bank reported a sharp drop in profit to Rs 12 crore from Rs 222 crore the previous fiscal. Incidentally, the NBFC had reported a net profit of Rs 52.6 crore for the three quarters ended December 31, 2007.

Citigroup had in the first quarter reported a $5.11-billion loss against a profit of $5.01 billion in the previous year. Non-US revenues contributed to 54% of Citi's revenues in 2007 against 49% in 2006. Revenues from Asia, excluding Japan, contributed to 17% in 2007 against 12% in 2006.

"Our organic strategy has started working extremely well. The growth in balance sheet has happened even in a generally constrained environment. The group had infused Rs 1,000-1,500 crore into the bank and the remaining in the NBFCs," said Citi India chief executive officer Sanjay Nayar.

One of the major drivers for the profits has been the 82% rise in fee income to Rs 2,446 crore. This was contributed by profits from forex, commission income and sale of investments. It also sold some of its residential flats which helped the bank report a net profit on sale of premises of Rs 66 crore.

Advances by the bank grew 17% to Rs 38,377 crore while deposits grew 22% to Rs 46,125 crore. The net NPA ratio went up to 1.23% from 1.02% due to higher delinquencies in the credit card business. Provisions and contingencies rose to Rs 2,115 crore from Rs 1,280 crore.

On the revenue front, the corporate, wholesale bank and treasury bought in 55% while retail contributed around 43%. However, retail contributed to only around 25% of the profit while the remaining was contributed by corporate, wholesale banking and treasury.

Citibank today announced the launch of Citigold Global Banking, a premium Banking and wealth management service exclusive to Citigold clients. The new Citigold Global Banking program takes financial mobility to a whole new level by enhancing the banking experience for Citigold clients not just in India but also around the world. This initiative leverages on Citi's strong worldwide presence to offer cross-border banking products and services to internationally mobile Citigold clients. India is among a select group of countries in the Asia Pacific region where this service has been launched today.

Citigold is Citibank's wealth management business for its mass affluent client segment that provides a holistic suite of both retail banking and wealth management products and solutions that include investments, insurance, mortgage, business banking, retirement planning, succession planning and wealth transfer. Today, Citibank serves over 400,000 Citigold clients in Asia Pacific (ex Japan), underscoring the global financial institution's leadership in the wealth management space.

As the economy and business environment in India continues to grow, professionals, entrepreneurs and investors in the region have more financial interests today that span multiple countries and currencies. The trend of Indian talent taking on additional job responsibilities that result in expatriate or overseas assignments also continues to rise. Often, simple and routine transactions such as opening a bank account, remitting money, buying a house, taking a loan in case of emergencies become complicated in foreign lands. Citi has estimated that, on average, the mass affluent segment in Asia Pacific is growing at about 15% on an annual basis.

"Today we live in a global village. As the world gets smaller, the needs of affluent clients get bigger. When people travel from country to country, a big area of concern is the loss of their 'home' banking relationship, their credit history, and easy access to their accounts from anywhere in the world. Citi understands that situation, which is why we developed a global 'passport" through Citigold Global Banking to address our clients' needs anytime, anywhere," said Mr. T. R. Ramachandran, Head, Retail Banking, Citibank N.A., India.

Citigold Global Banking provides an easy transition for clients, enabling them to open bank accounts, get Citibank credit card, enjoy Citigold status worldwide, transfer funds conveniently and gain access to a powerful global network of branches and ATMs with emergency cash withdrawal facilities. This service is further facilitated through Global Support Centers and a Global Banking Website that allows a snapshot view of all accounts and relationships that the client has with Citi around the world.

Mr. Sameer Kaul, Head, Branch Banking, Citibank N. A., India added, "Our Citigold clients lead busy lives and they expect transactions, particularly cross-border financial transactions, to be faster, safer and more convenient than ever before. Citigold Global Banking is able to deliver on all these areas. Our clients' local banking will now seamlessly merge with their global banking requirements. These are the advantages of Citi's global reach, scale, and expertise."

Citigold Global Banking Benefits

-- Pre-Arrival Account Opening - Before the Citigold client reaches a foreign country, Citi will be able to start the account opening process and in most cases even have the accounts opened before the client reaches the foreign shores, depending on the regulatory norms in the foreign country. Using a client's credit history, Citigold relationship managers can also help them open a credit card account for immediate access to credit upon arrival.

-- Global Support - Citigold clients have access to logistical and emergency support through an unparalleled network of more than 4,000 Citibank branches in 43 countries. Citi has also established four Global Support Centers in Europe, Asia, North and South America with teams of specially-trained staff members able to offer personalized cross-border account opening assistance to Citigold customers through the entire application process.

-- Global Recognition - Citigold clients can transfer their Citigold status from country to country, whether relocating or traveling, to enjoy the privileges, recognition and status they are accustomed to.

-- Citigold Center Access - Access will be provided at over 550 Citigold Centers in 36 countries, including lounges and meeting rooms, as well as free use of telephone, fax and the Internet services.

-- Emergency Cash Withdrawal - In the event of emergencies, and subject to proper verification, Indian Citigold customers can obtain the equivalent of up to US$2,000 from their accounts, at the designated Citi branches overseas.

-- Toll-free Global Hotline (800-CITI-CODE) - Indian Citigold customers traveling abroad can contact their home Citigold Customer Service hotline via a single toll-free, global number to request assistance with their accounts.

Citi India's global consumer group, today announced the appointment of Sandeep Bhalla as Head of credit cards for Citibank India. you may also check out the latest cashback offers and reward points of citibank credit cards here also some extraordinary hidden facts which bank don't disclose in front of new customers.

In his new role, Bhalla will report to P S Jayakumar, Country Business Manager, Global Consumer Group, Citi India, a press release issued here stated.

Bhalla has been with Citi for six years and has worked in the US in the cards business and in Asia, across several consumer businesses.

The spirituality of Sufi music and the benefits of Citibank's Metro Credit Card, a new TVC created by Publicis Ambience seamlessly blends the two. Publicis' Prasaana Sankhe and Ashish Khazanchi have worked on the TVC, while Film Farm Productions' Arun Gopalan has directed the commercial.

Aiming to tap the Delhi Metro commuters, who use pre-paid Smart Cards issued by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Citibank India recently launched a co-branded credit card - the Delhi Metro Citibank Credit Card.

Explaining the thought process behind the TVC, Sankhe said, "Besides conveying the product launch, we felt that this opportunity could be used for Citibank to form a direct connect with every Delhiite, just like the Delhi Metro, which has become very much a part of the Delhiites' lives in the three years of its existence."

The commercial shows people swaying to Sufi music in different parts of the Capital. The reason for this joy is the Citibank's new '2-in-1' transit credit card, the Delhi Metro Citibank Credit Card.

Sankhe further said, "This simplicity has found an instant connect with anybody exposed to this communication - be it the client, who approved it instantly, or the people of Delhi, who are currently swaying to the Sufi beats of this film."

The campaign for the 2-in-1 credit card is also being delivered through other mediums like print, radio, outdoor hoardings, besides all the usual BTL activities. The commercial would be extensively showcased in the theatres of Delhi as well.

The 60-second commercial went on air in the middle of the hugely popular DLF IPL T20 Tournament. It would be on air for a couple of months, Sankhe added.

The Delhi Metro Citibank Credit Card offers enhanced value and convenience to Delhi's residents. In addition to the other features of a Citibank credit card and the existing Metro Smart Card, the Delhi Metro Citibank Credit Card provides 10 per cent discount on travel fare paid with the '2-in-1' card. Moreover, there are two reward points for every Rs 100 spent on the Metro and one reward point for every Rs 100 spent elsewhere. The reward points accumulated on this card can be redeemed for free Metro rides at the Citibank point-of-sale terminals.

Suncorp today announced the transfer of its credit card portfolio to Citibank as part of a long term partnership designed to provide an enhanced range of services to its customers.

The partnership follows an extensive review by Suncorp's Retail Bank of its credit card portfolio valued at approximately $230m. Citibank was chosen from a list of potential partners that included domestic and international credit card companies. You may compare citibank credit cards here and also find out some incredible offers and discounts.

Suncorp Group Executive Retail Banking David Foster said the agreement allowed Suncorp to grow its portfolio in partnership with a leading Australian and global financial services group.

"It allows us to concentrate on the products and services we believe are best suited to our unique skills and capabilities. Through the transaction, we will gain access to Citibank's experience, technology, know-how and economies of scale in credit card manufacturing."

He said under the transfer arrangement, all cards would be branded Suncorp with Citibank responsible for operational and credit risk, technology platforms, issuance and back office processing, and portfolio management.

Global banking major Citibank India will set up a Japan Desk in New Delhi to offer banking and associated services to Japanese corporate clients in India.

The desk will offer services like cash management, trade financing, foreign exchange, lending among others, a release issued here today said.

Over the past few years, Japanese investment in Indian infrastructure, inflows touched USD 4 billion and India was high on Japan's priority, India Japan Initiative's Chairperson Geetanjali Kirloskar said.

"While other countries looked at India as a market, the Japanese have looked at India as a partner," she said.

With the setting-up of the new desk, Citi will be able to play a key role in supporting new Japanese companies that are entering into India as well as supporting existing Japanese subsidiaries in India in their expansion plans.

About 35,000 credit card customers of Citibank received free tickets worth Rs 23 crore (Rs 230 million) in early 2007 under the 'Fly for Sure' promotional campaign undertaken by the bank in 2005.

The customers became lucky after the bank was cautioned by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) about consequences if customer complaints were not redressed and commitments made under the promotional scheme not honoured, banking sources said.

The RBI stepped in after receiving a deluge of complaints accusing Citibank of not keeping its promise under the "Fly for Sure" scheme.

The bank subsequently owned up its mistakes and decided to provide air tickets to its credit card customers. Citibank has more than three million credit card customers.

source: Rediff

Moody's Investors Service said it has affirmed the ratings on eighty-four classes of securities issued through the Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust and the Citibank Credit Card Master Trust I, following its downgrades of the long-term ratings of Citigroup Inc and its subsidiaries, including Citibank NA.

Citibank is the seller/servicer for the credit card trusts, and the creditworthiness of the revolving securitization programs is linked to the credit strength of the seller/servicer, Moody's said. Be sure to compare credit cards in india to make your shopping secure with more discounts and cashback offers.

The downgrade of Citigroup was prompted by the view that Citibank's capital ratios will remain low due to the likelihood that management will need to take sizable write-downs against its subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO) portfolio.

The downgrade of Citibank reflects the implicit support of Citigroup's affiliates given the strategic importance of the card business to Citigroup and the FDIC's cross-guarantee provisions.

Citibank has the most humorous ads on television promoting there no hassle no late fee credit card; however there are things to be aware of with any Citibank credit card, the fine print.

There is a shorter grace period than there used to be, so when the bill comes in it often needs to be paid within a couple of days in order for it not to be counted late.

While it is nice to not get a late fee, you should still make every effort you would any card to pay it in a timely matter. The penalties for not paying on time with any late fee cards are costly. If you are late for a couple of times your interest rate could go up to more than 30 percent. In addition this penalty, you also will get a lower credit rating. They will report anyone that is over 30 days late in paying there bill. This can wreck your credit rating. So it is important to make sure that you pay every month on your credit card bills at least the minimum amount that is due.

Citibank has seen large growth in their credit card base in the past few years and is expected to match the industry's projected expansion of 15% per annum in the next couple years.

Chief executive officer Piyush Gupta said that credit card circulation in Malaysia seems to be slowing down but is expected not to hit its plateau as credit card spending has accounted for 16% to 17% of total spending.

Hong Kong and Singapore have a much higher spending rate in the range 20% to 25% in which in which does show that the market in Malaysia still has a lot of potential growth, albeit a slower pace.

"While it is still growing fast, it is not as high as a year or two ago. I think in the next couple of years, you will see a 15% annual growth, which is not an unrealistic projection," he told reporters after the launch of the bank's "Use Credit Wisely" programme yesterday.

Citibank currently has 1.3 million credit cardholders and is the leading credit card issuer with 20% market share of retail sales.

On the bank's non-performing loan rate is less than half of the industry rate of 3.5%.

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Citibank, the leading player in the credit card market is teaming up with Shell to launch the best performance credit card that offers the highest rebate for fuel and everyday spending.

The Shell Citibank Credit Card is a genuine savings tool that gives rebates of up to 5% on fuel purchases at Shell stations and up to 1.5% for all other purchases. The accumulated rebates earned via this credit card will help reduce a customers' monthly fuel expenditure. Thus unparalleled in the market, the Shell Citibank Credit Card will help alleviate customers' spending on fuel, which is a significant and necessary component of household expenses.

"In 2006 there were over 400,000 new cars registered in Malaysia and the price of fuel has increased over the last two years. Fuel is a necessity that very few of us can do without as we need to get to work, drive our children to school, go to the market, visit the doctor, visit family and friends and the list goes on.

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Citigroup has given its head of investment banking in India greater influence in Asia and internationally, only two weeks after appointing a chief executive for its Malaysian business.

The US bank has given Pramit Jhaveri, its head of investment banking in India, global responsibility and appointed him vice-chairman of Asia investment banking, in a move that the bank says underlines the importance of Citigroup's Indian credit card business to the region.

He will lead Citigroup's corporate banking and investment banking client coverage in India and take charge of Citigroup's capital markets business.

Sanjay Nayar, chief executive of Citigroup India, said: "India is witnessing a boom in activity as the country's leading companies raise capital and pursue [takeover] opportunities to further their global ambitions."

Customers who hadn't used their Macy's department store credit cards in a few years have been getting surprises in the mail: new Citi MasterCards.

The problem? Many say they don't recall authorizing Citigroup to open a MasterCard account in their names.

Citibank credit card had been opened in his name when his credit-monitoring service notified him of activity on his account. When he pulled his credit report, a new Citibank credit card account was listed.

Citigroup Inc., which bought Macy's credit card accounts in 2005, sent letters to about 3.5 million account holders in early August telling them that their inactive Macy's department store cards would be switched to a general-purpose MasterCard.

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Citibank topped the debt arrangers' list for the quarter to June 2007, followed by Axis Bank (formerly UTI Bank) and ICICI Securities (I-Sec). Two foreign banks, namely HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, have also featured among the top five debt arrangers.

This is according to Prime Database, which collated statistics on privately-placed debt issues with minimum one-year maturity. In the period under review, a total of 111 such debt placements took place amounting to Rs 19,432 crore.

Citibank alone arranged 17.5% of these deals. Axis Bank captured 13.6% of the market, while I-Sec cornered 12.2% market share. HSBC and StanChart have a market share of 9.2% and 8.1%, respectively. Among new debt arrangers, YES Bank and IDFC have become prominent, of late. While YES Bank ranked eighth in the list for the period under review, IDFC got the ninth slot. SBI Capital Markets is the lone public sector player in the top 10 debt arrangers' list. SBI Caps ranked 10th for the period.

More than three-quarters of credit cards make people pay off their cheapest debts first before they can start to repay their more expensive ones, a financial website has warned.

Citibank credit cards charge different interest rates for different types of borrowing, such as purchases, cash advances and balance transfers.

It said 76% of credit cards cleared debts on cash advances last, with this type of borrowing generally having the highest interest rates at an average of 23.96%.

It added that more than 80% of cards had purchases and cash withdrawals as the last two items to be cleared.

Citigroup Inc. revealed Monday the big earnings decline that Wall Street had been bracing for, while executives mustered up a cautiously optimistic view on the company's future performance.

New York-based Citigroup said its net income fell 57 percent to $2.38 billion, or 47 cents a share, during the third quarter, down from $5.5 billion or $1.10 a share a year earlier.

Analysts were widely expecting the banking giant to report net income of 44 cents per share

Citibank's latest credit card campaign, the "Citibank Free GreenBag promo" supports recycling and environmental protection in the Philippines.

To promote its "green-themed" campaign, Citibank is partnering with SM Supermarkets (one of the largest supermarket chains in the Philippines). Under the joint program, Citibank credit cardholders will receive a free "GreenBag" for every P500 single-receipt purchase of yellow tag items at participating SM Supermarkets.

"The long-lasting, reusable, non-woven Citibank 'GreenBag' is an environmentally friendly replacement for traditional plastic shopping bags"

The Supreme Court has referred for arbitration the row between Citibank and the British life style and travel company, TLC Marketing, by an ex-judge of the court.

TLC and its Indian partner Wunderman India of Mumbai had approached Citibank with an offer to promote its credit cards linking them to a scheme called 'free return flight voucher' or 'world for free destinations'.

The plan was accepted as the companies claimed that they were world leaders in consumer propositions, helping clients to meet their objectives such as customer retention and loyalty.

According to Citibank, 35,000 credit card members were found eligible for the return flights. The scheme went well initially. Later, the bank started receiving complaints from its customers regarding breach of commitments by the travel companies.

Citi (C), the nation's largest bank, is issuing 3.5 million credit cards to department store customers who didn't request them - a step that consumer groups say raises privacy concerns and could expose consumers to identity theft.

This month, Citi is sending general-purpose MasterCards to Macy's (M) customers with credit card accounts that have been inactive for two to four years. Citi bought those credit card accounts last year.

Citi and Macy's describe the new cards as a way to "replace" inactive Macy's accounts. But the new Citibank MasterCards aren't Macy's branded; they can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Macy's cards can be used only in-store.

Targeting small businesses and professionals, Citibank today launched 'CitiBusiness' in association with oil marketing company IndianOil, and aims fuel transaction of worth Rs 400 crore by March 2008.

Carrying a reward programme, the card delivers up to five per cent savings on fuel purchase at IndianOil petrol stations, including a 2.5 per cent surcharge waiver.

''Through this newly launched card, we hope fuel spend of Rs 400 crore would be achieved by the end of this financial year,'' Citibank Business Manager (Cards and Unsecured Loans) T R Ramachandran told reporters here.

He said the card provides a credit limit of Rs 5-10 lakh depending on the financial statements of the consumers and discounts on business-related requirements from 11 service providers.

As part of the IOC-CitiBusiness Turbo Rewards Programme, customers will get four points per Rs 150 spent on fuel purchase at the IOC outlets and one point per Rs 150 on all other spends, which can be redeemed against fuel purchases at IOC outlets.

CITI, one of the world's largest banks, is changing its track in retail business in India. As the consumer banking business battles with rising costs and increasing delinquencies, Citi is changing its model. At a time, when several banks are lowering growth targets for retail, Citi is preparing for a 30% growth this year.

The bank's strategy for growth is to get card holders and borrowers to become accountholders as well. At the same time, the bank is trying to get more out of its credit card alliance partners (departmental stores, airlines, and oil companies) by converting more of their customers into bank's customers. "The overall cost of doing business is rising. People costs, premises costs and cost of credit have all gone up. The entire industry is facing this pressure.

We have reshaped our collections and originations. We are redesigning our sales force to enhance efficiency and cross-sell products in a more effective manner," Citi India CEO Sanjay Nayar said. Citi's plan is to increase business volumes without increasing costs by the use of technology and cutting down process.

Hong Kong-based CPI Citi Group, investment arm of Citibank, has invested Rs 325 crore in Delhi based real estate major BPTP for developing a township on 1,500 acre of land in Nahar Par area, Faridabad.

The company has acquired the land and has already built a bridge over the canal to connect sector 13 and 14 of Faridabad to the new area under development.

The group is also developing a number of projects in Gurgaon. Besides IT Park, the company is developing residential projects in Sector 10, Gurgaon. It also has projects in Noida and Greater Noida.

The investigative arm of the country's anti-monopoly watchdog has recommended action against two multinational banks for making false promises to their credit card customers and violating the RBI guidelines.

In its preliminary report submitted to the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, the Director General of Investigation and Registration (DGIR) said that Citibank and HSBC have violated the rules framed by the Reserve Bank and caused loss to the general public.

Moreover, Citibank did not mention the address of either its registered office or corporate address, making it difficult for a consumer to issue notice of termination for credit card services.

Global payments solutions company, MasterCard International, hopes the youth is going to provide the next big push in the credit card market in India.

To this effect, the company has brought out specialised products primarily aimed at the younger generation.

"MasterCard has tied up with Citibank and MTV to provide potential cardholders a credit card specially designed to the reflect the shape of things to come," vice-president and General Manager, South Asia, Mastercard International, Mr Nitin Gupta, told The Tribune in an interview.

MasterCard is primarily the infrastructure provider that issues cards by its member banks. In India, most of the banks are members of the MasterCard International providing a variety of products, including debit cards, credit cards, ATM cards and other forms of plastic money.

Citibank and Jet Airways today announced the launch of the super-premium Jet Airways Citibank Platinum Card and the Jet Airways CitiBusiness Card. This is an extension of their successful partnership, and the enhanced features on these co-branded credit cards are truly attractive and rewarding for discerning frequent flyers.

The Jet Airways Citibank Platinum Card offers one of the richest rewards program in the country as it provides 4 JPMiles for every Rs.100 spent, allowing the member to maximize JPMiles accrual while spending across categories, be it shopping for groceries or whilst dining at a restaurant. The JPMiles thus accrued can be redeemed for free flights or upgrades to Première under the award-winning Jet Airways' Jet Privilege frequent flyer programme.

Citibank is one of the leading banks worldwide. It is now planning to expand its credit card business to Asia Pacific area. There are surely threats in that market, but there are also excellent opportunities. In this article I will analyze the Citibank as a brand and will discuss possible solutions to the problems that might occur in the new market.

Brand of Citibank: Citibank has already been in banking operation in Asia Pacific and mainly has good relationships with large business houses. Also, for private customers, Citibank offers the Citi-one accounts with minimum deposit $10,000. In addition, in Hong Kong there are 7,600 Citigold customers who are required to deposit more than $100,000 in their accounts. Consequently, Citibank has been regarded as a prestigious, consumer-oriented international bank.