In its tenth year on the Romanian market, the US giant Citibank has said it is intending to soften the elitist image its bank has developed by setting up a special unit to cater for medium-sized companies.
Dan Sandu, Citibank''s deputy general manager, says the bank is looking for companies with turnover of between two and 50 million dollars, companies which Citibank has been watching over the last three years.
"We have decided to direct our attention away from the top and toward the medium segment. We do not want to sell just credits or services, we want a partnership relationship with personalised offers," said Sandu.
He says the bank is interested in attracting new customers from the fields of production, trade and business services. Citibank research shows that around 5,000 companies are operating in these areas. The crediting model divides potential customers into two categories: those with a yearly turnover between 2 and 15 million dollars, and those with turnover above 15 million dollars. This means the maximum credit lines can go to two and five million dollars, respectively.
Sandu, who is also responsible for the activity of the new unit, maintains that Citibank will become highly competitive in terms of price and that the cost of loans will reach 6.5-7% in euros.
Customers will mainly be selected on the basis of their results over the last three years.
Sandu said the bank''s late decision to enter the medium-sized company segment was due to its having to strengthen its position with its larger customers.
Citibank Romania has announced it is now ready to bring to the Romanian market the complex range of products it already offers in over 100 countries and to make available the sophisticated electronic platforms for financial operations to its customers.
Over the last two weeks Citibank has held meetings with the representatives of 250 different companies in the cities of Timisoara, Constanta, Brasov, Sibiu and Cluj, where the bank has its own branches. Citibank has 11 other branches around the country.
In the middle of 2005 Citibank decided to submit its audited financial figures for 2004.
The chairman of the bank, Witold Zielinski, said that Citibank Romania had total assets of 2.4 billion RON (666 million euros) at the end of December 2004, almost 50% higher than in 2003, while net profits reached 27 million RON (around 7.5 million euros).
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