Citibank turns to natural persons

Almost seven years since its Romanian debut, US group Citibank is taking another step forward: the bank will increasingly focus on the retail market, namely on financing for natural persons.

Moreover, Citibank Romania has opened in Bucharest the first specialised agency for loans to natural persons, CitiFinancial.

According to the bank’s officials, CitiFinancial grants credits for personal needs that target the natural persons employed with a work contract, the pensioners and authorised natural persons. The loans do not require guarantors or other warranties for persons aged between 23 and 70, whose minimal monthly income is worth 4.8 million ROL. Clients can borrow from 4.5 million ROL to 300 million ROL, depending on the monthly wage of the potential client, while repayment intervals range from 6 months to 4 years.

“CitiFinancial sees Romania as an important market and is determined to consolidate and develop its position in the sector of loans to natural persons,” Wade Robinson, general director of CitiFinancial in Romania, said.

The credits can be used for any purpose, from holiday expenses to the acquisition of consumer goods, and the customer is not required to produce invoices to justify the respective expenses. Another product offered to the loyal clients is the possibility to have the loan supplemented, at least six months after the first loan.

Citibank Romania, held by the US-based Citigroup, has been operating on the Romanian market since 1996, but it took the first significant steps, such as territorial expansion and a broader range of products and services, in 2000.