On July 8, Fubon Huayi Bank's official account released the announcement on the completion of the transfer of personal credit card receivables and unsecured loans from Citibank (China) (hereinafter referred to as "Citibank China") to Fubon Huayi Bank, and announced the repayment rules and procedures after the transfer of Citibank's credit card receivables to Fubon Huayi Bank.
According to Citigroup China's official website, it announced in January 2024 that it will transfer its debt to Fubon Huayi Bank for outstanding debts or credit card installment payments ("accounts receivable") that have not been settled since the cessation of Citigroup China's personal credit card repayment service. The transfer is scheduled to be delivered on July 5, 2024 (the "Delivery Date").
On May 6, 2024, Citibank China's personal credit card ceased trading functions. Starting from 21:00 on July 3, 2024, Citibank China Personal Credit Card will cease to provide repayment services, and after completing the debt transfer process on July 5, only points/gift redemption and excess payment collection services will remain until September 30 (inclusive). Starting from July 6, 2024, gradually adjust/stop all credit card related service channels and terminate all Citibank China personal credit card accounts that have not been cancelled for Citibank credit card outstanding users.
However, it is worth noting that this transfer only involves accounts receivable that have not been settled after the cessation of Citigroup China's personal credit card repayment service. Citigroup China's personal credit card account, credit card points/rewards, and benefits are not included in the transfer scope. That is to say, after the redemption service expires on September 30, 2024, unrewarded Citigroup points and rewards will become invalid and cannot be redeemed at that time.
Starting from 2021, Citibank will implement a transformation strategy of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, investing resources and investments in larger and more competitive businesses.
For Citigroup, the personal business income is relatively small and the cost is high.
Financial data shows that as of the first quarter of 2024, Citigroup's revenue was $21.104 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.6%, mainly due to the drag of investment banking and global wealth management businesses; The net profit attributable to shareholders was $3.371 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 26.81%, mainly due to a decline in revenue, increased expenses and credit costs.
As early as April 2021, Citigroup China announced a global strategic adjustment and transformation. According to the announcement on its official website, so far, 10 of its branches or sub branches have returned or revoked their financial licenses.
According to Citigroup China's official website, in addition to the personal credit card accounts receivable transferred to Fubon Huayi Bank, multiple businesses have also been transferred.
On October 9, 2023, Citigroup announced that it had signed an agreement with HSBC China to transfer its personal banking wealth management business in mainland China, covering the accounts, deposits, and related wealth management products (excluding insurance products) held by individual customers, as well as the investment wealth management assets and personal deposits of Citigroup China's personal wealth management customers in 11 major cities across the country.
After 8 months, on June 7th, Citigroup China announced that it had completed the transfer of the business to HSBC Bank (China) (hereinafter referred to as "HSBC China").
According to the operational data of HSBC China over the years, the performance of the Wealth Management and Personal Banking departments has not been satisfactory.
From 2020 to 2023, the net profit of this business was -245 million yuan, -413 million yuan, 1.41 million yuan, and 167 million yuan, respectively, in its four major branches of business: Industrial and Commercial Financial Services, Wealth Management and Personal Banking, Global Banking and Capital Markets, and Enterprise Center. This accounted for the lowest proportion among the four major businesses, mainly due to the high operating expenses of this business.
Faced with such performance, HSBC China has taken over Citigroup China's wealth management business, which is related to the global strategies of their respective parent companies. Citigroup has not only shrunk its personal banking business in mainland China, but also globally, while HSBC is committed to building a leading wealth management institution in the Asian region.
According to HSBC China's 2023 annual report, in April 2023, HSBC China officially launched the Big Wealth Management Matrix strategy in mainland China, accelerating investment and seizing opportunities in the wealth market in mainland China. This marks the first time that foreign financial institutions have joined the Big Wealth Management track. The new strategy integrates the channels, products, services, and technologies of HSBC's subsidiaries in mainland China, and increases the proportion of the mainland Chinese market in HSBC's Asian wealth management business sector.
In 2023, HSBC China achieved a revenue of RMB 15.85 billion and a net interest income of RMB 8.655 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.51%. Among them, interest income was 15.637 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.85%; Interest expenses amounted to 6.981 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.19%.
At the end of 2023, the total assets were RMB 616.68 billion, an increase of 3.32% year-on-year. According to HSBC's disclosure, the growth in asset size mainly came from the growth of financial investment.
HSBC Group is gradually increasing its investment in financial management in mainland China. At the end of 2023, HSBC Group's wealth management investment assets in mainland China increased by 53% compared to the previous year, and the total number of wealth management clients increased by more than 30% year-on-year. In the first quarter of 2024, HSBC Group's net value of new investment assets in the Asian market increased by 33% year-on-year to $19 billion, with the net value of new investment assets in the mainland China market almost doubling during the same period.
The financial report disclosed that the vast majority of HSBC China's external transaction revenue in 2023 came from Chinese Mainland, and all non current assets were located in Chinese Mainland.