BWI: CORRECTING and REPLACING

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Citi
Friday, February 20, 2009 12:45 PM IST (07:15 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Banking & financial services, Business services, Financial Analyst
Release no: 19298
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CORRECTING and REPLACING
Citi-Branded Suite Energized with Low APR, Fee Card with 5X Rewards

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Friday, February 20, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- Citibank India today announced the launch of the Citibank Platinum Select Credit Card, which offers customers a powerful combination of preferential privileges, priority service and superior protection. The key differentiators of the Card are its best-in-class rewards program with superior earn rates, low interest rates, a service platform dedicated exclusively to its cardmembers and enhanced security and fraud covers. Citibank Platinum Select aims to provide cardholders a highly individualized experience based on the key themes of gourmet dining, rewarding shopping, recreational family time and peace of mind. The Card will be launched initially in New Delhi and Mumbai and will carry an annual fee of rupees Four Thousand.

Globally, Citibank Platinum Select is a well-established and popular credit card platform. India is one of only two countries in Asia-Pacific - the other being Thailand - to offer the Citibank Platinum Select Card.

Announcing the launch, N. Rajashekaran, Country Business Manager, Global Consumer Group, Citi India, said, "The Citibank Platinum Select is a fine demonstration of our strategy to offer the right product propositions for maximum customer engagement and activity on our products, supported by strong customer experience and service initiatives."

Speaking on the occasion, Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager, Cards, Citi India, said, "Recent research has revealed that a strong majority of Indians believe that money can't buy happiness, ranking peace of mind, good health and a happy family life over money. It is such decisive insight that has contributed to the design of the Citibank Platinum Select proposition. Each element of the package is carefully selected to make customers feel indulged. We are confident that the bouquet of preferential privileges, priority service and superior protection will make the Platinum Select the card of choice in the customer's wallet."

The Citibank Platinum Select Card benefits include:

Preferential Privileges

-- Accelerated Earn Rates: Customers earn 5 times the reward points on lifestyle spends such as those on apparel, dining and books. Reward Points earned on the Citibank Platinum Select Card can be redeemed in-store; from the rewards catalogue; converted to airline miles; for customized holiday packages or against any purchase on the statement.

-- Exclusive dining privileges: Citibank Platinum Select Cardmembers will be placed on priority for table reservations at over 150 of the finest outlets besides being offered complimentary beverages and desserts and a year-round discount of upto 20%.

-- Complimentary access to swimming pool, spa and health club: Customers can enjoy weekend experiences centered on complimentary access to the swimming pool, spa and health club at some of the best hotels, and complimentary golf lessons. Customers with substantial spends on the Card will be eligible to enjoy the complimentary services of a chauffer-driven sedan or free tickets to a movie show at select multiplexes.

-- Discounted access to signature golf courses: Cardmembers and a companion can enjoy golf at 15 signature domestic golf courses at upto 50% discount on green fees with no black-out days, advance payments and cancellation charges.

-- Citibank Platinum Select Card members will be able to enjoy a 50% discount on weekend stays at Taj Properties and a 50% discount on buffet lunches at any Taj property for up to six persons at a time.

Priority Services

-- Special pricing and Seamless Transaction Experience: The interest rate/service charge applicable on the Citibank Platinum Select Card is amongst the lowest in the industry. In addition, customers are assured of no declines on transactions at merchant outlets.

-- Dedicated Priority Service Platform: Citibank Platinum Select Card members will have access to a dedicated helpline attended directly by a CitiPhone officer. For query resolution, a separate email channel and priority call-back on SMS have been set up for Citibank Platinum Select Card members with a guaranteed 24-hour turnaround time.

Enhanced fraud prevention and protection features

-- All Citibank Platinum Select Cards are embedded with special chip technology making the duplication of card details virtually impossible, therefore minimizing fraudulent usage.

-- Pre-discovery Fraud Cover: Citibank Platinum Select Card members enjoy worldwide protection of up to Rs.50,000 against financial loss sustained due to the fraudulent use of their card for 96 hours prior to the time of reporting.

-- Built-in Insurance: The Card also comes in with insurance for card members in case of burglary of household articles (with a cover of Rs.1,50,000), loss of personal baggage during travel (with a cover of Rs. 25,000), loss of passport in a foreign country (with a cover of Rs.10,000) and loss or damage of items purchased (with a cover of Rs.40,000).

For more information on the Citibank Platinum Select Card, please visit www.citiplatinumselect.in.

Indian Fin-Q of 54.7 Shows Room for Improvement

Citibank also unveiled key findings of its annual Financial Quotient (Fin-Q) survey. Administered online to 400 respondents, all of whom have a bank account or a major credit card, the 40-question Survey seeks to provide an insight into the personal finance situation of Indians as well as the habits, approaches and attitudes consumers have vis-à-vis personal finance. Based on responses to the questions posed by the Survey on 11 different key financial subject areas, the results for India show an average Citi Fin-Q score of 54.7 points out of a possible 100. Overall results show that 55% Indians have a Fin-Q score of greater than 50. This clearly indicates room for improvement, particularly in the areas of budgeting, personal financial management, and retirement planning.

One of the many interesting insights provided by the survey is that a strong majority of Indians, nearly 72%, believe that money can't buy happiness. On what might be more important than money in life, Indians ranked peace of mind, good health and a happy family life, having the time to do things you enjoy, and living a long life, in that order. This is confirmed by the fact that 44% of the respondents disagreed that "a true money-can't-buy experience is hard to come by these days".

Citi

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through its two operating units, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.


CONTACT DETAILS
Indu A. Anand, Citi India, +91 (124) 4186766, indu.anand@citi.com
Sudeep Bhalla, Citi India, +91 (22) 40015009, sudeep.bhalla@citi.com
Shreela Roy, IPAN, +91 9820149119, shreela.roy@ipan.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, Financial Analyst

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