The Story Of Citibank's Deserting Customers

Considering the nature of their business, one former Citibank customer in India who also has an account in Singapore, and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said it was essential to have an international network of branches available. The service quality might be similar but the breadth of services would be restricted, the person quoted above said, referring to their decision to close their local Citibank account.

In addition to losing individual customers, Citibank India also appears to have lost multinational customers while the deal was being completed. The drawdown has also come from some corporate customers, including multinational companies moving their banking relationships, including employee salary accounts, according to analysts at Emkay Global.

Although, 96% of Citibank India's consumer banking employees have joined Axis Bank, those who chose not to may also have taken some customers with them, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Axis Bank saw about 4% of the Citi staff refuse an offer from the acquirer and they pulled some of the depositors along with them as they left, the person mentioned above said. While most have opted for other large private sector lenders, some are likely to have gone to certain non-banks, this person said.

Respect for a customer's time and close to no incidents of misselling of products stood out as defining Citibank employee qualities to Singaravelu in his relationship with the bank.

With Axis Bank spending Rs 11,603 crore to buy an attractive set of customers and banking relationships, just how well it delivers on similar expectations will determine whether Axis Bank can tack on a strong chapter to the book Citi wrote.

Axis Bank's transaction to purchase Citi India's consumer business has been completed, but the full process of integration is expected to take 18 months and cost Rs 1,500 crore, according to Axis Bank's management.