Citibank Celebrated 50th Anniversary in Korea
Citibank celebrates its 50th anniversary at the Four Seansons Hotel Seoul. / KoreaTimes photo by Kwak Seung-jin
Citibank Korea Inc. (www.citibank.co.kr, CEO Jin-hei, Park) celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Grand Ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in the evening of September 22nd in the presence of 350 Citi executives and employees, corporate clients, and eminent financial experts.
As one of the first multinational banks that penetrated the Korean market, Citibank opened its first corporate banking branch in Sogong-dong on September 8th, 1967. Building on the corporate banking business solidly in place, it started a consumer banking business for the first time as a foreign-based bank in Korea in 1986. Following its launch of private banking services in the country in 1989, which was another first, it became the first bank to introduce Automated Teller Machine running 24/ 7 to Korea in 1990. It was transformed into Citibank Korea Inc. through the merge of Citi and KorAm Bank in 2004 and has recently executed ‘Omni Channel’ strategy where the banking services have been offered on numerous platforms such as online, offline, and mobile reflecting the changing customer needs. In addition, the Korea franchise of the New York-based financial services company has expanded its Korea Desk to allow Korean companies operating overseas an access to services in local markets, continuously sharpening its competitiveness in both consumer and corporate banking businesses.
Citibank received ‘Syungryejang,’ a Distinguished Order of Diplomatic Service, in recognition of its contribution to improving the trade balance of Korea by providing the country with USD 200 million of international loan during the Oil Shock in the 1970’s. The financial service provider was also honored with ‘Heunginjang,’ another type of Distinguished Order of Diplomatic Service, for its critical role in the rollover of USD 24 billion international loan in 1997 when the country was hit by a financial crisis. It contributed to stabilizing the Korean foreign exchange market through USD 800 million of capital increase in 2008 amid the global financial crisis and having the Korea-US currency swap deal completed.
In the welcoming speech, Jin-hei, Park, CEO of Citibank Korea, expressed his gratitude saying, “Citibank has been able to offer the best financial services on its global network thanks to customers’ support and trust. It gave us great confidence that we have grown together with customers contributing to the development of the Korean economy for the past five decades. As a trusted financial partner, we will deliver the best results with creative financial solutions that will satisfy your financial needs.”
Mike Corbat, Citigroup CEO, said in his video message, “Over five decades, we’ve established many deep relationships in Korea which remains a high priority market for us. We’ve witnessed first-hand the fulfillment of Korea’s ambitious vision to become one of Asia’s great economic success stories and we’ve not only seen but played a helping role with Korea developing into a leader of digital economy as a premier financial firm that combined deep local knowledge with global resources and expertise. The last half century here has been more than just revenue on growth. It has been about the dedication of our talent people who’ve focused on for fulfilling our mission of economic growth and process for Korean companies and the entire Korean economy.
Closing the ceremony, Jin-hei, Park delivered his appreciation to the clients for their support for the past 50 years, and announced a plan to establish “Korea Corporate Citizenship Award.” To fund the award, Citibank will donate USD 50 per the corporate client attending the ceremony and top the donation with a certain amount of special contribution. Korea Corporate Citizenship Award will select socially responsible companies that have been committed to addressing social problems such as creating jobs for the socially marginalized, providing social services, or developing community economies in partnership with Joyful Union, a non-profit organization devoted to nurturing corporate citizenship, to recognize their efforts and support them with their future initiatives. (Advertorial)