Citigroup announces closure of two UK divisions
Citigroup, the US banking giant hit hard by the credit crunch, is closing two UK sub-prime divisions to concentrate on its core Citi and Egg consumer brands. The unsecured loan business CitiFinancial and the Future Mortgages division will stop offering new loans from today (May 20).
The closures will affect about 670 staff and it will close all 49 CitiFinancial loan centres and a call centre. Citi UK consumer business manager Bert Pijls says: “Following a strategic review of the consumer business in the UK, Future Mortgages and CitiFinancial were not identified as areas for strategic growth.
“By proposing to focus resource on our Citi and Egg brands, we are reflecting Citi’s global strategy and creating a platform for expansion in the UK personal finance market.”
In January, the bank announced a clearout of 161,000 Egg credit card customers because they had poor credit records. The move followed a review of its customer base after it acquired the online brand from Prudential in 2007.
Pijls took over in March after the departure of Ian Kerr, who implemented the decision to clearout the customers. Marketing director Alison Wright has also left the business, with Citi yet to appoint a replacement.
