Citibank sees 10-15% growth in credit card business next year

MANILA, Philippines - US-based financial giant Citibank NA is optimistic its credit card business in the Philippines will grow by 10 to 15 percent in 2010 as personal consumption expands in the second semester of 2009.

Economic forecasts predominantly point to a modest growth for the Philippines this year, making a full recovery in 2010.

Citi country officer for the Philippines Sanjiv Vohra said in a press briefing yesterday that they expect personal consumption to pick up in the second semester after a mere 0.8-percent pick-up in the first three months of 2009.

“Month-on-month, consumption has been moving up. And traditionally, personal consumption and spending tends to peak in the second semester, especially in November and December,” Vohra added.

He said they have been attracting new cardholders and offering additional rewards to existing cardholders in preparation for a stronger and more robust 2010.

“We are putting out new products, new rewards in place today, so that we are in place for the recovery next year,” he added.

Citi remains the leader in card issuances for the consumer and individual market, in terms of cards-in-force, card sales and card receivables.

Recently, it launched a corporate-oriented credit card that can reduce firms’ operating costs, at the same time expanding the corporate customer base of the country’s leading credit card issuer.

Citi has over one million credit cards or about a fifth of the total six million cards-in-force in the country. It likewise has a merchant reach of 5,000 including restaurants, department stores, hotels, and malls.

According to Citi’s cards business director Bea Tan, they have reduced interest rates for their cards while at the same time introducing new cards to maintain leadership in the card business.