Year-old Citi Fintech, the digital banking sub-brand of Citigroup Inc., has launched its first product.
That may seem like a long time by startup reckoning, but it’s not so bad for a (gigantic, regulated, global) bank. The unit announced Monday that it had built a new mobile experience for Citigold card members that allows them to buy and sell funds and equities. It also allows login via Touch ID and voice, transfer funds between Citi accounts (including international accounts), and relationship managers can be called with a single click from within the app. Brokerage account opening from within the app is currently being tested with a number of users.
Citi Mobile also released updates to its standard iOS and Android apps this week.
Citi Fintech has had a tumultuous few months, seeing CEO Heather Cox depart for USAA. COO Yolande Piazza stepped in to fill her role on an interim basis. The larger bank is not standing still either. In November, the bank opened a global API for developers to connect to its systems. “This platform allows the bank to work with a much broader demographic,” Piazza told Bank Innovation.
She also described the more specific mandate of Citi Fintech within Citigroup. “Citi Fintech has a charter to build the mobile app of the future.” To do that, she said, Citi built a team of 250 people, both consultants and bank employees, who had not just banking experience, but broader financial experience, for example, from PayPal and other fintech standouts.
Citigold members are essentially wealth management clients, with large qualifying balances and an expectation of extraordinary service. Citigold was chosen because its users have specific needs, but the next mission for Citi Fintech is to deliver expanded mobile functionality to the broader Citi audience.
Asked how Citi Fintech was different than Citi’s larger digital endeavors, Piazza said, ” Citi Fintech starts with a customer perspective rather than a product perspective. Our work involves partnerships with the business lines and complements our BAU processes and core sets of services.”
Piazza did not say when a broader retail product could be expected, but said the goal, as always, will be to deliver to Citi customers “the digital end-to-end bank of the future.”