Citibank Cashes In On Credit-Hungry Asian Market

Business in the Philippines was booming with growth rates seen at 30 per cent to 40 per cent annually, Harpal Dugal, vice president and business manager for Citibank Philippines credit card divison, told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

The growth comes on top of a threefold increase in the size of the business in the past three years. Total annual spending in the Philippines through credit cards had risen to between 45 billion pesos ($1.72 billion) and 50 billion pesos annually from 16 billion to 18 billion pesos in 1993, he said.

Citibank Philippines, a unit of Citicorp, dominates the business with its cards accounting for 14 to 15 billion pesos out of a total spending of 45 to 50 billion pesos.

 

Dugal declined to give profit figures for Citibank's credit card business in the Philippines but said it accounted for about 65 to 70 per cent of profits in its consumer banking division and about 30 to 35 per cent of total profits.

Industry analysts said Citibank Philippines credit card division's profits had grown 10-fold in the past three years. Dugal said Citibank's Philippine experience was replicated in most Asian countries.