P. S. Jayakumar (left), country business manager of Citi India, with T. R. Ramachandran, head (retail banking) of Citibank India, in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Fotocorp)

Mumbai, April 2: Citibank India today launched a comprehensive offering of banking and financial services for the expatriate community in India.

The foreign bank hopes to capture a market share of 25-40 per cent in this segment.

There are around 100,000 expats in India and it is estimated that 25,000 are coming annually to the country. This is the first time that Citibank has launched such a specialised service for expatriates in any specific country.

Citi believes that there is huge potential for such services in India since a new expat is usually confronted with various problems such as opening of a bank account and finding or buying a home.

Citibank developed this innovative offering for the expatriate community following an intensive in-house survey in the third quarter of 2007.

According to the findings of this survey, the expatriate community in India is an under-served segment. While their financial needs are unique, expats are being offered routine banking products and services more suitable for Indian citizens.

P. S. Jayakumar, country business manager of Citi India, said, “Our presence across 100 countries coupled with our deep understanding of the local market and alliances with best-in-class partners make Citibank ideally poised to cater to the needs of the growing expatriate community in India.” The foreign bank says it will enable speedy opening of accounts for expats after following the KYC (know your customer) norms.

Apart from offering remittance services and simple forex forwards, it will offer personal and home loans to them.