Citibank pilots finance ‘shops’

Citibank is to pilot financial services product shops next year as part of its plans to extend the brand across the UK. If successful, the shops will be rolled out to all major UK towns and cities.

The bank plans to open two or three shops outside London, and it is understood that they will most likely be situated in Birmingham and Manchester. The shops will sell Citibank’s range of products, including ISAs and its current account, but will not have transaction facilities.

Citibank sales and marketing director Jonathan Mindell wouldn’t give a specific time frame, but says the work is at the “back end of planning”.

The bank, which has traditionally served affluent Londoners, wants to capitalise on the growth in demand from customers outside London, which has been generated by its Internet and call centre services.

Mindell says: “Many customers want to talk face to face about financial services products. The service centres will enable them to do this.”

In September, the company launched a free aggregation service, called My Accounts, which allows users to check their bank accounts and statements in one place.

The service has 8,000 customers at present, and the bank plans to use it to cross-sell products.

Customers opening a current account with Citibank need to have a yearly income of &£20,000 or open the account with &£2,000.

Last month, Citibank appointed Fallon to handle the majority of its &£10m pan-European account. The incumbent Young & Rubicam remains on the roster.

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