"Citi after all invented the ATM and was once a leader in consumer banking technology," explained CEO Vikram Pandit earlier this month. "It is our aim to make sure we regain that edge." He also said that the key to growth was "much, much better execution." Supposedly the company is looking at possible future Internet and cell phone tools.
I think it should focus more on the present.
Citi doesn't have an execution problem, per se, as much as a legitimacy problem: it required a bailout from the government because its very operations were either failed or suspect. Every presumption of its brand and reputation have been questioned, and in many instances, utterly destroyed, and it suffers within an industry category that commands about as much respect as Congress.
So how Citi executes those last few feet or bytes of connecting with its retail customers is so after the fact to be almost inconsequential. Mulling about possible newfangled ways to distribute account statements or switch funds around is sort of like contemplating your next vacation while sitting on the deck of the Titantic.
Closing branches sends a message about the brand, and it's not good, no matter how the mouseprint might claim otherwise. Citi is bankrupt, and it hasn't told consumers what it has done to fix whatever it did to destroy itself. Those improvements are either a big secret, or it really hasn't fixed anything. Yet it wants to chase consumer deposits as a core strategy. In fact, it wishes it could buy a branch network just as it contemplates closing many of its own.
Where's the "Bank of the Present" project? Instead of touting its futuristic technology brainstorming sessions, why isn't it conducting a campaign to reclaim the here-and-now:
- Internal repair. If substantive structural change is underway inside the company, shouldn't it figure out how to communicate it to the public? How is the bank different now from how it operated a year ago (and different from its competitors)? Might its internal change address fundamental consumer concerns about the credibility of its brand?
- New products. Forget the tech gizmos or IVR menus, and come up with offers that address the real concerns/interests of depositors. Interest rates stink. People don't have any money to spare. So the answer isn't to invent a cool iPhone app, but rather new, better ways to make deposits. Simple, immediate things. I've got a big idea: how about suspending all of the latest mercenary fees and other whammies that define most banking relationships, and call a moratorium? The lack of bad products might make the other ones look good.
- Conversation. What a natural, obvious opportunity to utilize social networks to involve depositors, would-be customers, and friends and critics alike in an ongoing conversation about what Citi should and could be. Imagine giving people some substantive tasks and the chance to be really involved; understanding what the hell is happening with my finances would qualify as a "high touch" topic.
So it's disappointing that Citi is looking to the future, when it's present is what deserves its full attention.
