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THE local unit of Citibank NA has introduced the Philippines’
first text messaging-based credit charging service with the launch
of its Citi Mobile.
This service allows Citi cardholders in the
country to order food and flowers for delivery, reload prepaid
phones, and pay bills through short message service (SMS) without
swiping the plastic.
“The continued popularity of SMS presented us
an opportunity to introduce Citi Mobile. Our more than 1 million
card holders can now charge payments to their Citi card using their
mobile phones,” Mark Jones, Citibank’s country business manager,
said.
Jones said he is bullish about the prospects of
the financial sector and credit card industry, as the bank launches
more products in the local market.
Alma Gruenberg, Citibank’s Credit Cards
Business vice president, said the new mobile service is considered a
powerful tool to change consumer behavior. “It will be easy for
the market to adopt a new mobile phone technology,” he said.
Agustin Santiago, vice president of Citibank’s
e-Business group, said the bank expects to capture a bigger market
share in the next two years following the launch of its newest
service.
“We see a huge potential in this new SMS
service as mobile phone holders in the Philippines reach 54 million
while the credit card market only has 4 million,” he said.
Citi expects credit card sales to grow 10
percent to 15 percent this year, and plans to issue an additional
200,000 credit cards this year from the current 1.2 million.
-- Maricel E. Burgonio
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