Citibank Korea, and its labour union have agreed to close 90 branches and freeze layoffs. Meanwhile the U.S. bank is seeking to extend its services to Korean firms overseas.
Citibank Korea, (CK) the South Korean unit of Citigroup, and its labour union signed an agreement under which the bank will slightly reduce the number of branches it plans to shut down and not lay off employees without justifiable cause.
CK which had operated a total of 126 retail banking branches in South Korea, had originally planned to shut down 101 branches.
But the move according to «The Korean Herald» has been criticised by the union and some politicians for leaving customers without easy access to key financial services. Last week, five branches of CK were closed.
Korean Business Dichotomy
While hollowing out its retail offering onshore in Korea the U.S. banking giant has plans to open more Korea desks this year to provide institutional banking services to Korean multi-national clients in Vietnam and further across Europe.
Currently, Citi operates Korea desks in seven locations, including Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, London and New York, providing institutional banking services to Korean multi-national clients.
In stark contrast to its Korean domestic agenda the U.S. bank plans to continuously open more desks to serve Korean companies in key countries where they operate.
Digital and Wealth Management Priority
Earlier this year CK said it aimed to grow target segment customers by 50 percent across the emerging affluent and affluent segments and double assets under management (AUM) in its Wealth Management business by 2020 as well as growing its deposits in the country by 30 percent.
«Banking today is less about branches and more about digital. We are deploying our bankers to support the changing preferences of our client across new innovative wealth and lending hubs and central engagement teams,» said Brendan Carney, Consumer Banking Head CK.
