The US-based Citibank is set to sell its consumer business in India to private sector lender Axis Bank, and an announcement in this regard is likely today, Livemint reported citing sources.
The development comes almost a year after Citibank had announced in April last year, that it will exit consumer business in 13 countries including India, as part of an ongoing strategic review and in order to focus on four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, and the UK. The bank had however said that it will continue wealth management and institutional business in India.
Citibank started its operations in India in 1902 and has approximately 35 branches across the country. According to the Indian Express, the US-based bank has 2.9 million retail customers with 1.2 million bank accounts in India. It is one of the earliest banks that introduced the concept of credit cards and ATMs in India in the 1980s, according to the Indian Express report.
As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, until March 31, 2021, the bank had loans worth Rs 68,747 crore in India and deposits of Rs 1.66 lakh crore. In February 2022, its total number of credit cards stood at 2.55 million.
Ahead of the announcement the shares of Axis Bank surged by 2.37 per cent.
