Citibank: Launching the Credit Card in Asia Pacific

1.0 Launching the Credit Card in Asia Pacific Region Citibank should launch the card product in Asia for several reasons. Firstly, Citibank can ride on the rapid economic development in the region via credit card products. Secondly, it is also an excellent way to overcome distribution limitations imposed on foreign banks in the region. Thirdly, it allows Citibank to expand its customer base from the upper income segment to include the rapidly growing middle-income households, which is consistent with its global growth strategy and mission in Asia Pacific. Fourthly, by introducing credit cards, Citibank will be able to cross-sell other product lines such as Auto Loans and Ready Credit to …show more content…

Thirdly, current resources are already very tight and there is a lack of trained talented staff. Lastly, the credit card launch may result in a loss of focus in their branch banking business. In order to convince these managers, several measures can be implemented to direct their focus to long term trend in society and opportunities in the business for growth. Firstly, organization structure should be revised. A separate card unit outside the branch banking business should be set up to fully account for the card business. Initial losses in the card business should not be considered as part of the managers’ performance assessment criteria. This will give rise to the need of a centralized processing and issuing centre to smooth out and coordinate operations and services of these local units during the introduction phase. Secondly, more expertise from other markets should be sent to Asia to guide and assist the local managers with the card launch and other marketing activities. Thirdly, training courses should be conducted to train enthusiastic locals for both the branch banking business and credit card business to provide an adequate talent pool for its growing business. Fourthly, constant sharing and feedback sessions between different regions should be provided for better two-way communication. Lastly, acquisition