Citi looking to scale back on branches
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Citigroup may be planning to scale back its retail banking branches.
The bank, which is now partially owned by the government, has struggled to find its footing. Marketplace’s Tamara Keith has more.
Tamara Keith: In the battle for branch visibility, Citigroup lags far behind names like Wells Fargo and Band of America. The two have more than 6,000 branches each. Citi has just about a thousand, and according to the Wall Street Journal, could soon drop to even fewer.
The bank is reportedly planning to focus on the six major cities where it has the strongest presence: New York, Washington, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Bank executives are expected to present details of the plan to the Citi board next month.
Citi is also working on improving its customer service and attracting more deposits through online banking. The Journal says going forward, Citi intends to focus its lending business on credit cards and high-end jumbo loans.
In Washington, I’m Tamara Keith for Marketplace.
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