Singapore

Awards of Excellence
Asian regional awards

Euromoney’s best bank awards are almost invariably awarded to domestic banks within each country and territory, so the choice of Citi as best bank in Singapore ahead of the incumbent candidates of DBS, UOB and OCBC might seem odd. Citi gets the award for two key reasons. The first is that the Singapore government is in the final stages of removing the remaining restrictions on foreign banks operating in the Lion City, offering a completely level playing field for all banks, much as is already the case in Hong Kong.

The second and more significant reason is that Citi has effectively already turned itself into a local bank in Singapore and is providing the domestic banks with significant competition. From just five branches in 2005, Citi had already expanded its network to more than nine branches, 24 ATMs and 370 additional online payment kiosks by the end of 2006.

That expansion is now accelerating. Citi has entered into a joint venture with SMRT Corporation, the country’s subway system operator under which Citi will open 10 branches and 51 self-service instant banking centres within MRT stations, ensuring that every MRT station will have a physical Citi presence by the end of 2007.