PHONE BANKING

Introduction

Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. As of March 2010, Citigroup is the third largest bank holding company in the United States by total assets, after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase.[1]

Citibank has retail banking operations in more than 100 countries and territories around the world. More than half of its 1,400 offices are in the United States, mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Miami. More recently, Citibank has expanded its operations in the Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas.

In addition to the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers insurance, credit card and investment products. Their online services division is among the most successful in the field, [citation needed] claiming about 15 million users.

As a result of the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 and huge losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, Citibank was rescued by the U.S. government under plans agreed for Citigroup. On November 23, 2008, in addition to initial aid of $25 billion, a further $25 billion was invested in the corporation together with guarantees for risky assets amounting to $306 billion.[2] Since this time, Citibank has repaid their government loans in full. [3]

Founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, ownership and management of the bank was taken over by Moses Taylor, a protégé of John Jacob Astor and one of the giants of the business world in the 19th century. During Taylor's ascendancy, the bank functioned largely as a treasury and finance center for Taylor's own extensive business empire.[citation needed] The first president of City Bank was Col. Samuel Osgood, born in North Andover, MA.

In 1863, the bank joined the U.S.'s new national banking system and became The National City Bank of New York. By 1868, it was considered one of the largest banks in the United States, and in 1897, it became the first major U.S. bank to establish a foreign department.

National City became the first U.S. national bank to open an overseas banking office when its branch in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was opened in 1914. Many of Citi's present international offices are older; offices in London, Shanghai, Calcutta, and elsewhere were opened in 1901 and 1902 by the International Banking Corporation (IBC), a company chartered to conduct banking business outside the U.S., at that time an activity forbidden to U.S. national banks. In 1918, IBC became a wholly owned subsidiary and was subsequently merged into the bank. By 1919, the bank had become the first U.S. bank to have US$1 billion in assets.[citation needed]

Charles E. Mitchell was elected president in 1921 and in 1929 was made chairman, a position he held until 1933. Under Mitchell the bank expanded rapidly and by 1930 had 100 branches in 23 countries outside the United States. The policies pursued by the bank under Mitchell's leadership are seen by historical economists as one of the prime causes of the stock market crash of 1929, which led ultimately to the Great Depression.[citation needed] In 1933 a Senate committee, the Pecora Commission, investigated Mitchell for his part in tens of millions dollars in losses, excessive pay, and tax avoidance. Senator Carter Glass said of him: "Mitchell more than any 50 men is responsible for this stock crash."[4]

On December 24, 1927, its headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were blown up by the Italian anarchist Severino Di Giovanni, in the frame of the international campaign supporting Sacco and Vanzetti.[citation needed]

In 1952, James Stillman Rockefeller was elected president and then chairman in 1959, serving until 1967. Stillman was a direct descendant of the Rockefeller family through the William Rockefeller (the brother of John D.) branch. In 1960, his second cousin, David Rockefeller, became president of Chase Manhattan Bank, National City's long-time New York rival for dominance in the banking industry in America.[citation needed]

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Open a Citibank account and you're opening the door to worldwide account access, an award-winning web site, relationship pricing, and the convenience of managing all your accounts in one place. Control

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You can do almost everything you need to online—pay bills, make transfers, view your balance, see your statement, and more.

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Your accounts are protected with advanced technologies and services including 128-bit encryption and online fraud protection. Learn more

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With a global outlook, we have a particular understanding of your needs and can provide banking products and services to match your lifestyle at preferential terms.

At our one-stop shop, you benefit from:

a choice of Bank Accounts to suit your needs and park your assets

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On line Banking with bill pay Checking Saving and Money Markets IRA’S and Rollover Certificates of Deposit Mobile Banking

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One of the problem in citbank is phone banking

What is CitiPhone Banking®?

It's a FREE1 service that lets you do your banking by phone. In fact, you can use CitiPhone Banking to do many of the same things you can do online or at a Citibank Financial Center 2. Here's a quick rundown of what CitiPhone Banking offers. How it works

To use CitiPhone Banking, just call the number on the back of your Citibank® Banking Card and enter one of the following:

• 1.Your Citibank Banking Card number (press 1). • 2. Your Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer ID (press 2). • 3. Your account number (press 3).

Next, enter your telephone personal ID code (TPIC). If you don't have one, stay on the line and Customer Service will help you set one up. Costs CitiPhone Banking is FREE.1

If you pay bills by speaking with a representative (as opposed to using the automated phone service), it's $4.95 per month for unlimited payments.

• You can bypass the CitiPhone Banking recording using this quick guide.

• You can reset your telephone access code online at any Citibank ATM or by calling the number on the back of your Citibank®Banking Card.

• When outside the U.S., you can access CitiPhone Banking by calling the international toll-free number on the back of your Citibank® Banking Card.

Regular account fees apply. In addition, there may be fees for services accessed via CitiPhone Banking®, such as staff-assisted bill payments, checkbook reorders, and stop payment requests.

CitiPhone Banking will not permit you to transfer funds if you provide an incorrect access code, attempt to transfer an amount greater than the available balance in the source account, or if the transfer exceeds the number allowed for a particular account.

Your accounts are a call away.

Not near a computer? Then use CitiPhone Banking®to access your accounts. You can make transfers, pay bills, get your balances — you can even hear a summary of your ThankYou® Points. Phone banking should be simplified as follows:

1.Itshould be easier 2.It should not be time consuming 3.Caller should not hold for long time to speak to operator 4.It is difficult to operate if client is illiterate.

Other related problems are lower rate of interest in the fixed Deposit

If your appetite for risk is minimal, your banker can advise you on time deposits (also known as fixed deposits) as forms of investment. There are various kinds of time deposits available in different tenures and currencies. You lock your money in for a fixed amount of time at a fixed rate of interest. Upon maturity of the time deposits, you can withdraw your principal sum plus the interest earned. Foreign currency time deposits work just like ordinary time deposits, except they are not in local currency. The element of risk is present because exchange rate can go up or down.

Term Deposits are a great way to secure higher rates of interest, if you don't need immediate access to your funds. Citibank's range of Term Deposits offer:

• Competitive interest rates, with interest calculated daily • Tiered interest rates - higher rates available for larger investment amounts • A wide range of terms varying from 8 days to 5 years • An innovative Ladder Term Deposit - your rate steps up during your term • No up-front or account keeping fees when held to maturity

Consumer Term Deposit

• Interest calculated daily and paid either annually or at maturity • Terms from 1 month to 5 years • Minimum investment $10,000 •

Ladder Term Deposit • Interest calculated daily paid at each rate step and then at maturity • 12 month term only • Minimum investment $10,000

Money Market Term Deposit

• Interest calculated daily and paid at maturity only • Terms from 8 days to 12 months • Minimum investment $100,000

Some of the major bank brands include Suntrust, Compass, etc. These major banks are really accredited and attested to be reliable banks, especially in this very delicate field of online and phone banking. You might find that the options for phone banking are catered usually on a personal account level and not on a corporate one. Corporate accounts are still encouraged to have face to face correspondence given the nature and scope of the business transactions involved. Web sites and brochures of major banks such as these will also clue you in with the kind of information and transaction that you can enjoy over the phone and through the Internet, so it might be a good idea to have some form of comparison of branches before you make a final decision.

Scope of the study-A primary criteria in your search for the right major bank for phone banking purposes would be the location. For example, Compass is quite accessible to Massachusetts residents, but if you are from another state, you might find this too taxing. There will still be instances that you need to have personal appearance before the branch, as certain transactions cannot be done over the phone. If you are not to speak strictly, you can open an account in any branch if you will just be making transactions within the bounds of phone banking. But just to be safe, you must still have an accessible office or branch to visit in case problems emerge.

Most of the major banks provide you with the option to link your account to your cell just so you will not have to keep on punching numbers repeatedly (as is the common practice for phone banking). The convenience of no longer waiting in the long queue and just updating your account details from home is a major factor that has people clamoring for this feature in banks. But if you are really still adamant about divulging your account details over the phone for fear of identity theft, nothing beats the good old safe method of doing it the old-fashioned way. Recent losses and cost cutting measures

Citi reported losing $8–11 billion several days after Merrill Lynch announced that it too had been losing billions from the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States.

On April 11, 2007, the parent Citi announced staff cuts and relocations.[8]

On 4 November 2007, Charles Prince quit as the chairman and chief executive of Citigroup, following crisis meetings with the board in New York in the wake of billions of dollars in losses related to subprime lending.

Former United States Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin has been asked to replace ex-CEO Charles Prince to manage the losses Citi has amassed over the years of being over-exposed to subprime lending during the 2002–2007 surge in the real estate industry.

In August 2008, after a three-year investigation by California's Attorney General Citibank was ordered to repay the $14 million (close to $18 million including interest and penalties) that was removed from 53,000 customers accounts over an 11-year period from 1992 to 2003. The money was taken under a computerized "account sweeping program" where any positive balances from over-payments or double payments were removed without notice to the customers.

[9]

On November 23, 2008, Citigroup was forced to seek federal financing to avoid a collapse, in a way similar to its colleagues Bear Stearns and AIG. The U.S. government provided $25 billion and guarantees to risky assets to Citigroup in exchange for stock. This was the latest bailout in a string of bailouts that began with Bear Stearns and peaked with the collapse of the GSE's, Lehman, AIG and the start of TARP.

On January 16, 2009, Citigroup announced that it was splitting into two companies. Citicorp will continue with the traditional banking business while Citi Holdings Inc. will own the more risky investments, some of which will be sold to strengthen the balance sheet of the core business, Citicorp. The idea behind splitting into two companies is so Citigroup can dump "the dead weight" on Citi Holdings, allowing the prime assets of Citicorp to operate away from that of the toxic assets.[10] Historical data

Asset & Liability

 Asset/Liability Ratio

 Net Income



 Due to losses taking place in the bank it is effecting service and growth of the bank.

 Data Description and Hypothesis TestIn this study, the sample contains 6 Saudi commercial banks, out of 11 ones working in the Saudi banking market. Data are collected to cover the period from 31/12/1998 to 31/12 2007, and for each bank/ year observations, the following data have been collected: Net Profit (P), Assets (A), Equity (E), Capital (C), Number of Branches (BRA), Number of ATMs (ATM), Number of POSs (POS), Availability of Phone Banking (PHO), Availability of PC Banking (PCB), and Availability of Mobile Banking (MOB). Using these raw data, variables representing profitability and banking expansion, could be calculated as follows: ROA = P / A ……………………………………..…………...… (1) Where: ROA = Return On Assets ROE = P / E …………………….. ……………………….…...… (2) Where: ROE = Return On Equity ROC = P / C …………………………………..……………...… (3)Where: ROC = Return On Capital BRA = Number of Branches …………………..………. ….…… (4) ATM = Number of ATMs ………………………………....…… (5)POS = Number of POSs ………………………..……….….…... (6) PHO = 1 (if phone banking is available), = 0 (if not)...... (7) PCB = 1 (if PC banking is available), = 0 (if not)…………..…... (8) MOB = 1 (if Mobile banking is available), = 0 (if not)……….... (9) Z = -1/ Bank Assets (by milliards S.R.).…..……….….….....… (10)After having calculated the previous variables, for each bank in the sample, over the study period, the steps of test design could be illustrated as follows.

The fifth step is to examine the effects of variables representing banking expansion on profit efficiency, where: EF1 = f (BRA, ATM, POS, PHO, PCB, MOB)……………………... (23) EF2* = f (BRA, ATM, POS, PHO, PCB, MOB) ………………....…. (24)EF3* = f (BRA, ATM, POS, PHO, PCB, MOB) ……………………. (25)Using these three previous functions, it's easy to calculate the coefficients of regression, which describe how profit efficiency is affected by banking expansion. These coefficients are B1, B2, B3, B4, B5 and B6, where they represent coefficients of regression due to BRA, ATM, POS, PHO, PCB, and

MOB consequently. These functions, also, illustrate the six hypotheses of this paper, where: H1a: Number of Branches makes positive (or negative) contribution to Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks. This means that H1a: B1 # 0 versus null hypothesis that B1 = 0. H2a: Number of ATMs makes positive (or negative) contribution to Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks. This means that H2a: B2 # 0 versus null hypothesis that B2 = 0. H3a: Number of POSs makes positive (or negative) contribution to Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks. This means that H3a: B3 # 0 versus null hypothesis that B3 = 0. H4a: Availability of Phone Banking makes positive (or negative) contribution to Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks. This means that H4a: B4 # 0 versus null hypothesis that B4 = 0. H5a: Availability of PC Banking makes positive (or negative) contribution to Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks. This means that H5a: B5 # 0 versus null hypothesis that B5 = 0. H6a: Availability of Mobile Banking makes positive (or negative) contribution to Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks. This means that H5a: B6 # 0 versus null hypothesis that B6 = 0.

Primary Data

Where can i get primary data abt. citibank and SMRT,, for they r releasing a common product,? a card,, that will be used to withdraw money form the ATM,,and also as a fare card for travelling, the card will be same for both,, so i want to do the research whether its advantageous or no, what do i do?? and can u give me website where i can get the primary data for both the companies,? both the firms r in singapore,, and they r realeasing the product in singapore itself,, so plss help me,

delphinuz

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

You mean the Citibank SMRT Visa Platinum Card.

It seems that you are 17? Stick to your concession card. It is cheaper. Plus this is acredit card. The requirements are more suited for working adults. Plus you don't want to have debts at a young age don't you ;)

Additional: ok.. for Citibank credit cards (including SMRT card), you need to have a minimum of $30,000 per annum income. Basically all other info are in their websites.

The advantageous of it, you have no worries that you ez-link will reach zero, and of course there are other perks (just like any other credit card).

The disadvantage.. this is a credit card. So there's tend to be debts, annual fee, interest, etc etc. not advisable if you don't have a stable income. Source(s):

LindaLou

I did a search for "Citibank SMRT" and a number of items came up. Try it. You'll get your answers. Secondary Data

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Slender tower for tiny site By JOURNAL STAFF

Developer Levin Menzies & Associates is setting its sights on a tiny triangular lot four blocks from the Seattle Center to build a 29-story condo tower called Icon. The quarter-acre lot is bounded Denny Way, Sixth Avenue and Wall Street. The city has approved a master-use permit for the slender tower and construction is scheduled to begin in May of 2008. It all goes smoothly, it should be finished in November of 2010. Icon will have 224 units varying from 570 to 1,400 square feet. The average size is 900 square feet. Prices will start in the high $200,000s and reach $1.4 million for the penthouses. Most units will be priced between $350,000 and $650,000. The site is oddly sized and too small for a conventional shear-core structural system, so the designers decided to use an outrigger structural system, which provides lateral resistance while avoiding a perimeter moment frame. Parking will be provided in 10 levels below grade and two above. Some stalls will have mechanical systems so that two cars can be stacked in one space. There will be one stall of parking for every bedroom in the building. The tower will have punched decks between various juxtaposed forms. Precast concrete architectural frame features will break up each façade. The top will have a garden deck and a “halo element” that glows at night. Citibank made a proposal to finance Icon and an agreement is being finalized with a general contractor, according to Paul Menzies of Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Levin Menzies. Seattle's Weber + Thompson is the architect and interior designer, and Vancouver, B.C.-based Glotman Simpson is the structural engineer. Dan Foltz is Weber + Thompson's lead designer on the project. Levin Menzies is also developing a 331-unit condo tower at Eighth and Seneca, east of Freeway Park. Construction on that is expected to start in March 2008 and finish in May 2010. It will cost about $85 million to build and is being financed by Lehman Brothers of New York. Citibank® Travel Card Through leading-edge technology, innovative products and world-class customer service, the Citibank® Travel Card lets your organization manage its travel spending more efficiently and provides greater convenience for your employees. Extensive reporting and information management tools give you the data you need to analyze travel expenses more effectively, helping your organization improve its decision-making. As the world's leading credit card issuer, we offer an unsurpassed level of expertise to help you improve your travel expense management process overall. At Citi, we deliver the details you need – from line-item and folio-level details to consolidated global transaction data…and everything in between. With access to this level of information, you can look beyond the details…to simplify travel expense management and speed decision-making. Better yet, Citi’s advanced technology and online management and reporting tools are all backed by our best-in-class customer service.

Data Management and Reporting

A host of information management solutions seamlessly integrate with your financial systems, making it easier for you to comply with agency/organization and government policies, better understand spending patterns and negotiate with vendors, with: • Standard Reports: Monthly, quarterly or annual reports, designed to meet your management and accounting needs, include cardholder and account data, vendor analyses, sales tax information and more • Citibank® Custom Reporting System : An easy-to-use application that lets you choose the data you need from more than 600 data elements to create customized reports • Citibank® Electronic Reporting System : For receiving and managing files and reports online • CitiDirect® Card Management System : Advanced technology for online card program management, reporting and analysis • Citibank® Online Statements : Online access to account statements for streamlined review and payment • Ongoing Consultative Support

A dedicated account team will create a program to meet your needs, or re- engineer and expand an existing one. Plus, your cardholders will enjoy round-the-clock access to knowledgeable customer support from anywhere in the world. Unrivaled Benefits

An industry leader, Citi offers value-added features and benefits that surpass standard travel card programs: • Acceptance at over 22 million locations worldwide and cash access at more than 800,000 ATM locations • Authorization controls for managing spending at the company and cardholder levels, including limits on transactions, cash access and vendor selection • Enhancements, such as the declining balance feature, as well as an integrated phone card and event spending management solutions • Fraud detection system that monitors cardholder account activity • Travel accident, primary car rental and lost luggage insurance, as well as travel and emergency assistance • VAT reclaim services for expenses incurred in the European Union. Home banking, for the purposes of this report, is the ability to conduct one’s banking and financial affairs from home . It has been a coming revolution in banking for about the last 25 years. Indeed , telephone banking, the first incarnation of home banking , was introduced by ADP and the seattle First National Bank in 1973, terminal which delivers service to the home including video banking, PC banking, Internet banking and screen phone banking. Despite the proliferation of technology, this revolution has not as yet materialized. The latest figures (1997) indicating that only about 3-6% of banking households use home banking in both the US and Germany.There are many reasons why home banking is attractive in principle. Forconsumers, it is potentially a cheaper, more convenient, time-saving way toaccomplish a necessary, but essentially unpleasant task. For banks, it offers the possibility to save on expensive branch and transaction costs, to attract new customer In some forms also offers the opportunity for marketing, cross-selling .nk’sExpanding the bank’s financial relationship with the consumer. It was this compelling logic on both the demand and supply sides of the equation that made home banking seem like such an obvious breakthrough product from its inception. The history of home banking is punctuated with frequent claims that it would revolutionize the financial service industry. Despite these predictions, home banking has, for the most part, proved adisappointment.In the most general terms, there are two reasons why home banking has failed live up to its potential. The first problem has largely been one of standardization Home banking is only a breakthrough product if it allowsthe consumer to manage all or most of his financial affairs and pay bills from one home terminal, whatever that may be. This means that home banking requires not just a high-tech terminal, but an infrastructure that interconnects a significant portion of all banks, non-bank financial institutions, billers, data processors, and consumers. The battles over who imposes the standards, who owns and bears thecosts of the infrastructure and the terminals and how the fees should be distributed prevented full implementation of the system. This stimulated fears by consumer merchants and banks that they would become locked into a technology. They did of control or that might soon become obsolete and deterred them from investing the second problem has been a lack of consumer interest. Despite the obvious benefits and despite extensive market research, banks have Consistently overestimated how much consumers really want this service.. Many banks seemed to treat consumer resistance to homebanking as technophobic and felt that once consumers properly understood the advantages, all resistance would fade. According to Richard Braddock a Citibank vice-president for retail banking in 1984, “[i]f I could sit down with that customer ... I would try to show him that he should have a broader perspective. He should bee doing more at his home today than he was doing at his branch yesterday.”Consumers, however, did not want to broaden their perspective, or at least did not want to learn about this perspective from their banks, and resisted bank efforts to change their habits and make them pay for it. After initial successes .Early adopters, many promising home banking initiatives withered from lack of interest. Today, there are once again claims that home banking is poised torevolutionize the financial services industry. Much has changed recently that would seem to negate past problems. Standards and infrastructure issues have been nearly resolved by the mass acceptance of Microsoft/Intel (Wintel) Terminals (now present in over 40% of US homes and 20% of German homes), the Internet network standard.World Wide Web user interface standard, and the proliferation of personalfinance software such as Quicken (10-11 million US users) and Microsoft Money (2-3 Million US users). Recently (April 1998), Microsoft, Intuit, and integrion agreed on migration to a unified standard for electronic financial transaction which would seem destined to gain broad acceptance in the US. In Germany a new transaction standard called the HBCI (Home Banking computer Interface) has been approved by the ZKA (Zentralkreditausschuß - Central Credit Committee) as a similarly hegemonicstandard to which all German banks must comply by October 1998.Additionally, home banking now requires much less broadening ofperspectives on the part of consumers. Many already have PCs , Internet access (70million or so and growing rapidly) and PFMs; they are much more comfortable with the technology and accustomed to buying books, airline tickets, and even cars online. For many consumers, the up-front costs of home banking have already beenspent and the network access fees are already being paid to their Internet service. providers. Certainly, the pieces now seem in place for the revolution to finally takeoff. As one respected commentator on the banking industry, Martin Mayer, put it, at long last, after years of study and product testing, the business of providing computerized [banking] services in the home is finally bursting to life.” Unfortunately, Mayer said that in 1983. The pieces do seem to be in place, but history should teach a certain humility in predicting that home banking.will soon revolutionize financial services.This report is intended to trace the histroy of home banking as an innovation in both countries, to understand the sources of that innovation in both countries & to explain the sources of any differences in innovative processes between the U.S.and germany. Although there is no reason to assume that home banking is typical offinancial service innovation in either country, because it is an innovation withpotentially revolutionary effects on retail banking, some general observations may result. Toward that end, the report will begin by sketching the relevant regulatory and industrial structure of the retail banking sector in each country. The next section will detail the history and state of home banking in the united states and germany. The final section will elaborate on the salient differences in how this innovation has evolved in both countries and make some companies as to the sources of innovation in home banking in the U.S. and Germany.

Conclusion: