For many consumers, selecting a bank is primarily a question of convenience. Which bank has the closest branch to my home or office? Who offers the greatest promotions? Who has the most visible ATM network?
But in the digital age, the metrics have changed, argues Francisco Aristeguieta, Citi's chief executive in Asia-Pacific.
Branches have become irrelevant, he says, with customers shifting from a physical to a digital environment, with around 95% of Citi's consumer banking transactions region-wide now occurring outside of them.
The bank has deepened its presence in key digital ecosystems, where its clients are increasingly active, such as Line in Thailand, where the bank has a strong profile.
"You were locally relevant before if you had a branch practically everywhere. Well, that's not the case today," Mr Aristeguieta told the Bangkok Post.
"Today, you are going to be locally relevant to the extent that you are in the digital ecosystem that your target market chooses to be in. That is what will give you relevance."
Mr Aristeguieta, recently in Bangkok to mark Citi's 50th anniversary in Thailand, said the digital economy has redefined what service means for customers.
"Service is evolving. From the convenience of a branch that is next to your home or office, to your mobile phone. So it's about who gives you the better service on your mobile phone," he said.
Digitisation has been a critical strategy for Citi as the institution continues to evolve after the global economic crisis a decade ago.
Nearly one-third of Citi's credit card clients and 40% of its personal loan clients in Asia were acquired digitally, underpinned by a strategy to use an open architecture approach for its consumer business and to partner with the leading applications in each market.
"[Citi] serves consumers in 12 countries in Asia-Pacific and five in EMEA [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] that Asia manages," Mr Aristeguieta said. "To be locally relevant, you have to partner with the applications that my clients prefer to connect with, whether that be Line, Alipay or others."
In India, Citi's Hello application manages video, voice and data communications between customers and bank relationship managers.
Clients can consult personally with bank staff on transactions, new products and services at their own convenience, straight from their phones.
The bank also recently rolled out a Chatbot in Singapore, allowing real time communication with clients over mobile -- a first for the bank globally.
Mr Aristeguieta said that for Citi, digitisation was not simply a new approach to serving customers, but a core part of its strategy to ensure it maintains forward compatibility in the future.
"Many banks are talking about digital, but primarily as a channel. For us, digital is not a channel. For us, digital is the business model," he said.
In terms of productivity, the reduction in bank branches and centralisation of relationship managers around "wealth hubs" has helped drive significant gains in recent years. In Asia-Pacific, Citi has reported five consecutive quarters of growth and the region accounts for around a quarter of Citi's profits.
"If you leave relationship managers in the traditional model -- the analogue model -- you will have a branch. And within that branch, you will have two, three or four managers sitting and waiting for clients to come in," Mr Aristeguieta said.
"It's a very different environment when you put them in a place where their entire focus is calling clients. And they are surrounded by other relationship managers who are doing nothing but calling their clients."
Each relationship manager is also empowered with digital tools such as portfolio analytics and investment tracking systems that further enhance their ability to offer value to clients.
Mr Aristeguieta said the next step for Citi is in data management, where the bank's knowledge of client preferences can be tapped to personalise services for its 16 million retail clients in the region.
This in turn can be synergised with Citi's corporate client relationships, who will also gain from insights into customer needs.
Mr Aristeguieta, who took over as Citi Asia-Pacific CEO in 2015, said the bank today is "much simpler, much stronger" than in its pre-crisis incarnation.
While many other banks have had to curtail their international footprint, Citi maintains that its global network remains one of its greatest strengths.
"As many of our competitors have had to reduce their footprint and change their strategy, we continue to open our doors in the same number of countries as before the crisis," Mr Aristeguieta said.
