How Axis Bank's Citi deal is paying off

ONE IN THREE of the country's richest Indians today is a customer with Axis Bank.

- SACHIN KUMAR

Indeed, the lender's initiative to ramp up its wealth management platform is paying off. A big part of that strategy-the acquisition of Citibank India's retail business, branches and all- for a cash consideration of ₹12,300 crore, is shaping up well.

It's a good business to own. The average spend on Citi's cards may have been coming down but, at ₹14,000, it was above the industry average of ₹12,000. There were concerns Citi customers might be unhappy with the more mid-market Axis brand. But nearly nine months into the merger, 'most" customers have stayed on and the management says attrition has been "far lower" than it was before the integration process began.

The big reason why customers aren't going elsewhere is because Axis is offering them a strong and more powerful proposition, said Arjun Chowdhry, group executive and head, cards, payments and wealth, Axis Bank, who is steering the transition.

Chowdhry is convinced that while the Citi brand had great value and its own positioning, ultimately customers demonstrate behavior depending on the value proposition of the card. "I believe everyone will stay back," he asserts. The bigger bouquet of products and services that Axis is offering customers seems to be helping. To start with, the disruption to Citi customers has been minimized by leaving the customer-facing teams intact.

These teams from Citi will be integrated into the Axis team over a period of time.