C Citigroup Inc

By Micah Maidenberg 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 14, 2018).

Citigroup Inc. is making changes to its consumer-banking leadership, in a bid to deliver a more seamless approach to customers.

As part of the shuffle, Jud Linville, head of global cards and consumer services, is leaving the bank, Stephen Bird, Citigroup's chief executive of global consumer banking, announced in an internal memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

The New York-based bank has created a new position called head of U.S. consumer banking and appointed Anand Selva, a 26-year Citigroup veteran who currently is in a similar role in Asia, to fill that position, Mr. Bird said in the memo.

In the U.S., Citigroup has historically operated via separate teams that focused on their own particular offerings. Now, in his new role, Mr. Selva must get retail banking, wealth products and Citigroup-branded cards groups to go to market with a broader focus on the bank's services, or the "full Citi relationship," Mr. Bird said in the memo. The shift is meant to make the domestic business operate like the bank already does overseas.

"This action aligns the U.S. franchise with the regional model deployed in Asia and Mexico where we have seen the benefits of cross-product synergies, greater collaboration and accelerated speed to market and decision-making," Mr. Bird wrote in the memo.

In the U.S., Citigroup is shifting back to growth mode following years of shrinking its retail banking franchise in the domestic market. The company is doing so by focusing on digital initiatives, including making account opening via mobile simple and allowing customers and noncustomers to aggregate all of their financial data through Citi's mobile app.

Mr. Selva currently serves as head of consumer banking in Asia Pacific and has worked for Citigroup for 26 years. Executives focused on Citigroup-brand cards, digital banking and retail banking and other teams will report to him.

Mr. Bird also said in the internal memo that Citigroup created a second new position, called head of retail banking and consumer lending. The bank appointed David Chubak to take on that job, which is meant to unify retail-banking and branded-cards teams around the globe in a single unit. He previously served as head of global retail banking.

Mr. Linville joined Citigroup in 2010 from American Express and oversaw the bank's efforts to draw more customers to its credit cards by introducing cards that made it easy to spend rewards points online and other offerings. In the memo, Mr. Bird said Mr. Linville transformed the bank's cards business, including securing partners including Costco Wholesale Corp. and American Airlines Group.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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