Citibank's Online Banking Takes Top Honors in Worth Magazine's 1999 Readers
Choice and SmartMoney.com Surveys
BusinessWire, Thursday, July 01, 1999 at 16:29
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1999--Citibank has been chosen
as 1999's best online bank by Worth Magazine in its first annual
Readers' Choice Survey of financial services. The award was based on
responses from over 4,000 of Worth's subscribers, who according to the
magazine, tend to be heavy users of financial services. Citibank's
online banking service also took top honors this month among
traditional, full-service consumer banks in SmartMoney.com's survey of
online banking.
Worth notes that Citibank's proprietary online banking service,
Direct Access(R), allows clients to easily link investment and banking
services. The magazine states "Direct Access's investment services,
which Citi strategists believe will pull in younger more active
customers, are among the best in the online world. Direct Access users
can check out business and company news via links to Standard & Poors
News and purchase research from a host of sources, and they can use
Citi's brokerage services to trade stock or invest in about 4,500
mutual funds." Worth notes that the basic commission rate is $19.95
per trade. Investment services are available through Direct Access for
clients who have a Citicorp Investment Securities brokerage account
linked to their banking account. The Readers Choice award ranks
Citibank's online banking service above Chase Manhattan, Wells Fargo,
Bank of America, and Bank of Boston among others.
Among traditional, full-service consumer banks, Citibank scored
tops in SmartMoney.com's ranking of online bankers. SmartMoney.com
notes that Citibank earned a perfect score for security due to its
"top notch security." SmartMoney.com also rated Citibank number one in
the category of on-line customer service, stating "Our winner,
Citibank, shined...." In 1996 and 1998, the two occasions when
SmartMoney, the print magazine, has ranked online banking, Citibank
has ranked number one overall.
Currently, over 750,000 Citibank clients use some version of
Direct Access in 12 countries. Outside the U.S., Citibank's online
user base grew by almost 10% during the month of May alone. Although
Citibank only launched online banking in Japan at the end of last
year, it now serves the largest number of online banking clients in
the country.
Citibank has offered PC banking services to its clients for over
16 years and debuted the Internet version of its banking service in
October, 1997. The Internet-based format of the service enables
Citibank to continually add upgrades and enhancements to Direct Access
at the web site, without requiring clients to load new software onto
their computers. Clients can use Direct Access to quickly and
conveniently access their bank accounts, pay bills to virtually anyone
in the U.S., transfer funds and place orders to buy and sell
securities through Citicorp Investment Services. Direct Access,
including its bill payment service, is offered free of charge to U.S.
clients. The service employs 128-bit encryption to provide an
extremely high level of security. It may be accessed using Netscape
Navigator, Microsoft's Internet Explorer, or America Online and is
compatible with Microsoft Money and Quicken financial software.
In addition to recognition from Worth's Readers' Choice award and
SmartMoney.com, Citibank and Direct Access have won numerous online
distinctions. Earlier this month, Citibank was named the world's top
online bank in a global survey sponsored by IBM Finance working with
the brand consultancy Interbrand Newell and Sorrell. And Citibank
recently scored number one in customer care in an online banking study
sponsored by Octane Software and SupportZone.com in conjunction with
Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.
Citibank is part of Citigroup, the world's most global financial
services organization. Citigroup's consumer businesses cover a broad
range of financial services in 57 countries - retail and private
banking, credit and charge cards, mortgage lending, consumer lending,
personal financial planning, personal insurance and investment
brokerage and counseling. These services are marketed through
Citibank, Salomon Smith Barney, Commercial Credit, Primerica,
Travelers Life & Annuity and Travelers Property Casualty.
Today, Citigroup serves more than 100 million customers -
including consumers, businesses, governments and financial
institutions - in 100 countries and territories.
Securities transactions are through Citicorp Investment Services,
member NASD/SIPC, and an affiliate of Citibank
Investments: o Not FDIC Insured o No Bank Guarantee o May Lose Value
CONTACT: Citibank, New York
Mark Rodgers, 718/248-1092
mark.rodgers@citicorp.com
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