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When Citicorp brought its Citibank unit to Germany

When Citicorp brought its Citibank unit to Germany, it helped transform an already changing German consumer banking system. Citicorp introduced American-style telephone banking, cash dispensers and other high-technology innovations that initially caught German bankers by surprise, but which resulted in the company garnering a reputation for friendliness and customer services which, in turn, resulted in a 12 percent increase in the number of customer accounts held at Citibank from 1991 to 1993.

Citibank also sought to expand its credit card business in Germany, where MasterCard is the card of choice. Citibank aggressively marketed its Visa card and linked it with the Bahncard, a popular credit card which gives its holders discounts on the German railway.

But Citibank was not the only reason that the face of German banking is changing. A former New York management consultant convinced his superiors at a Bavarian bank to start a brokerage unit at the bank. While German banks were initially skeptical of the move, the result was that the bank successfully lured more than 10,000 customers through its doors, many of these new to the bank in question. The brokerage operation is founded on the same principles as discount brokerage houses in the United States, with the brokers making trades and accepting fees for those trades, but otherwise offering no advice to customers. The lure to customers has been that the brokerage fees are well below those charged by other brokerage houses.

These innovations have put increased pressure on German banks who insist on conducting business in the tradition way: offering low levels of service while charging high fees. Germany has a large number of bank branches, each serving a small population (relative to banks in other parts of the developed world), and they have a reputation for not courting customers. Citibank's aggressive marketing and the discount brokerage experiment illustrate that ...

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When Citicorp brought its Citibank unit to Germany. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 02:10, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708860.html