540 million years ago – give or take a few million – the Cambrian period of the paleozoic era produced the most intense burst of evolution we have ever known. This so called “Cambrian explosion” led to the most stunning diversity of life forms to emerge in the history of our planet – including most of the animal and plant groups of today. If you parse the evolutionary science, this much is clear – no one quite knows the factors that led to this unique phenomenon – it could’ve been oxygen increase in the seas, movement of the tectonic plates , atmospheric gases reducing radiation.. or any number of alternate causes. But this much is also clear – this was a unique concatenation of nature and circumstances that led to this breathtaking diversity and origin of most species.
Yesterday’s announcement about Citi putting 13 of their Consumer businesses on the block was almost immediately followed by a deluge of nostalgic messages on social media among Citi alum – and led me to reflect on why exactly it is that this institution invokes so much passion pride and emotion.. what is the secret sauce that still binds all of us together as lifelong friends – perhaps even more than the ones we made at school, college… and that in turn led to reflection on the Cambrian period of Citi’s consumer banking in India when whole new chapters of retail banking were written.
First off, perhaps some context. Citi consumer built some truly great products. When we joined the Citi workforce in the late 1980s, India was on the cusp of liberalisation. And “retail banking” was still not a thing. Consumers parked their money in real estate of Gold or NBFC fixed deposits. UTI, LIC and a few public sector banks had just launched mutual funds. And ATMs did not exist. It was in this backdrop, that after being in India since 1902, Citi started their consumer banking business in the mid 1980s. And that was the Cambrian moment in Indian retail financial services. Looking back, the first simple success formula was that Citibank “followed the money” in making the market. Colour TVs and refrigerators and two wheelers started entering middle class homes. Citi launched the consumer durables finance business. and CELP (Corporate Employee Loan Program). After years of consumer having to choose between Ambassadors and Premier Padminis, Maruti Suzuki launched the 800 – and Citi kicked off its Auto finance business – at a time when leasing companies and first gen NBFCs were the only options (and years later even did a captive finance JV with Maruti). As Indians started working abroad, Citi swiftly moved to plant their NRI business flags across countries to capture NRI’s onshore and offshore wealth management needs. As Indians started buying (and actually taking loans for ) homes, Citi partnered initially with HDFC and then launched their own Mortgage business. And just as consumerism and retailing started, Citi launched the cards business by first buying the Diners Club Franchise from the Agarwals, then launching Citi cards. And built out the entire merchant acceptance network ground up . The 1990s saw Citi launching loans against shares when retail investors started entering Dalal street. And in the mid 1990s as more and more young Indians started entering the private sector to work, Citi launched the corporate salary account, Suvidha. And as middle India became more affluent, Citigold, the premier wealth management platform was born. and in the early 2000s was launched Internet banking when India was still on dial-up modems, and then mobile banking a decade before the advent of apps. All this with just a handful of branches. And along the way Citi built out world class home built Tech to power all this – Core banking system, installment lending, Cards host and platform, Switch and host, internet banking, centralised operations, ATM networks, and Citiphone banking. All from ground up.
Every one of these products was a market first. Every one of these deserves its own backstory and air time. Now imagine the environment where not one, but all of these businesses were being built from scratch, being grown, being scaled, being re-imagined.. I know it is cliched now in the start-up community to talk about being on a rocket ship – but as a traveller on the Citi ship i can tell you we were in rarefied atmosphere! Sakhar Bhavan, Jeevan Bharti, Kanak building, Shakti Towers, Air India Building, Vijaya building, ClubHouse Road, BKC.. addresses where many of us almost certainly spent more time at than outside or at our homes, and the unlikely locations that launched many a product and career!
And that in turn created that unique – “can’t tell you what it is, but if you are there, you will experience it” Citi culture. To start with, the people. Gosh, the people! Each one so bright, so razor sharp, so keen to make an impact. The best and brightest typically freshly minted from B Schools (Citi was an original day zero employer at Campus and a huge MBA employer) were thrust into roles that today would be done by folks with a decade or more of experience. And given incredible empowerment and freedom to fail. Job descriptions were fluid. Sales. Tech. Customer service. Collections. Marketing. Product management. People often did many of these roles in a single day. And often nights. We used to grumble that the term “Citi never sleeps” was in fact coined by sleep deprived employees ! And then on the few occasions where one got off early from office, we invariably spent evenings again with colleagues at one of the fabled Citi “Chummeries”. Building some lifelong bonds and friendships. We learnt from some insanely bright , hungry and motivated peers and bosses who when not doling out tough love, were online real-time mentors and counsellors. Citi also created the original outsourcing model – of DSAs, Dealers, Collections Agencies, Chartered Accountant firms for Ops – thereby fostering a large extended family – many of whom are industry stalwarts today. And each “batch” of recruits raised the bar.
The last leg of the Citi secret sauce was in the training and processes that made Citi the University it was. Right from the initial 21 day induction training bootcamp to something as basic as service excellence (every new employee had to go through two module of customer service training , starting from being trained to pick up phones in a particular way – and definitely within 3 rings with “Citibank can I help you” )..from Consumer Credit and Risk management to Treasury Dynamics and Banking Tech , from investments to financial planning.. either through one of the Citi Training programs (all instructors in-house only) or through being thrown into the deep end of the pool to “figure it out”, or through frequent job changes, the exposure one got cut wide swathes across functions and markets. So it was almost natural that a whole generation of professionals were spawned, who thrived in ambiguity, needed minimal supervision, were intellectually curious and programmed to take entrepreneurial accountability and were really effective at problem solving, and “getting it done”. They came from incredibly diverse backgrounds, but were moulded into the “Citi way”. Little wonder then that for a long period, practically every noteworthy retail financial institution in India and across Asia Pacific, had ex-Citibankers at the helm or in key roles. And those deep friendships made and bonds forged mean that current and ex-Citibankers always have their personal advisory boards of other Citi alumni to bounce off ideas, discuss career choices, or count on for help if you “phone a friend”.
So these then were the bricks which built that irreplicable Citi Consumer franchise in India.
The Galapagos islands are uniquely situated at a point in the Pacific ocean where three ocean currents collide, consequently creating climatic conditions for a very unique ecosystem to be created. Apparently the flora and fauna there thrive on only this particular environment. If the Cambrian explosion was a unique point in time , the Galapagos islands are a unique place. And neither that particular time nor that particular place can be exactly replicated. That perhaps is the beauty of it and the irony.
The institution we knew and the franchise which was built may well live on only in re-telling of sepia toned war stories at reunions; but the awesome men and women behind Citi India Consumer are (for the most part) very much around – and to all of you ladies and gents, I raise a toast . To borrow from the song by Starship, “We built this Citi”.
