By IANS
Mumbai : Global financing major Citibank Wednesday launched services for the expatriate communities in India.
“This is the first time Citi has launched such an offering for expatriates, Citibank Account for Expatriates, in any specific country across the world,” Citi India Global Consumer Group’s country business manager P.S.Jayakumar said.
“We expect a growth rate of our portfolio between 25 percent and 40 percent. We are noticing the expatriate community is fast growing in India and it is one of the most under-served segments too,” he said.
He said the findings reveal that over 25,000 expatriates come to India every year.
The specialised account for the expatriate community would help in garnering investments inflow and channelising of funds in the country.
Jayakumar said: “Citibank’s presence across 100 countries, coupled with the understanding of Indian needs, will give us an edge in catering to the needs of growing expatriate community in India.”
He said that banking institutions have learnt lessons from the crisis that followed the lending boom.
“We have come out relatively unscathed because our exposure was not high. However, every such crisis evolves new solutions and lessons from which everybody learns,” Jayakumar said, referring to the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
“We intend to place this new segment of foreign nationals residing in India and, I think, this is the right time to do so,” Citibank retail banking head T.R. Ramachandran said.