NEW YORK–Banks should prove their value to customers, according to Paul Kadin, executive vice president, North America Consumer Banking Customer Strategy at Citibank.
"We ask our customers to conform to us, to come to our channels, to work within our policies, to pay pricing that covers our cost," he told attendees here Dec. 6 at the Financial Services Marketing Symposium. "In earlier times, the tradeoff was some security, some trust, some feeling of safety for the money. That equation has eroded over the last few years dramatically."
Citi is using technology to provide value to customers in a few ways, he said.
For one, the bank is combining reward points, mobile coupons and mobile payments. Through its partnership with Google Wallet, Citi already generates coupons customers may use as they tap and pay with Google Wallet using a Citi card.
An iPhone application Citi has developed with Best Buy enables customers to research an item in which they are interested with a barcode scanner and later buy it using loyalty points.
In a future scenario, the customer will check in to a retailer, and a “dynamic offer engine” will deliver that person's Citi rewards balance and location- and time-specific offers from nearby merchants, Kadin said.
The customer will use a barcode scanner to check for additional offers and compare prices and redemption opportunities. Before checkout, the customer will select a means of payment that can be a mix of banking accounts, debit and credit cards, and gift cards. At the register, the customer will pay with a tap and Citi will display the customer’s current reward balance, account balance and other offers, Kadin said.
Citi also provides content and free Wi-Fi to “be in customers’ lives,” he added.
“In the past, we’ve put our message out in locations customers travel to, and it might be relevant, but it’s our message to them–it’s one-way, self-serving messaging,” Kadin said.
Citi longs to be a valued presence as customers travel through the media universe throughout their day. For example, a mom might start her day looking at news online, later check emails, get ideas for what to make for dinner or how to entertain the kids, check in with friends on Facebook and at the end of the day watch a movie on her laptop. Citi has partnered with BabyCenter to provide articles about raising children that it can push out to such customers throughout the day, Kadin said.
In other media sponsorships, Citi provides content about simplifying one’s life for its Simplicity cardholders. The bank also has a partnership with LiveNation, the entertainment company, through which it provides concert-related special offers only to those who “like” the bank on Facebook. Citi provides complimentary Wi-Fi access at places where it knows its customers go. One such place is its flagship store in Union Square in Manhattan.
Citi also relies on “social listening,” monitoring customer comments on social-media sites, Kadin said.
“This is important because some value is being added by our clients amongst each other,” Kadin said. “We have a large group of people who monitor social conversations all the time and participate when appropriate.”
Recently a woman using the Gripe complaint application complained about her Citi credit card. Citi’s social media team saw the comment, replied to the customer on the site, solved her problem and turned the situation around, Kadin said.
“This only comes about if we’re transparent, open and honest and in our customers’ lives watching those dialogues,” he said.
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