Frederick F. Seegers

Frederick F. Seegers took up his new role at Citibank just two months ago, and was in Dubai last week to meet staff and tour operations. It was his first time in the city for 25 years.

'I see great opportunities everywhere I look in this place. Every new expatriate walking down the street is a potential new customer. Dubai reminds me of Singapore 25 years ago. It has that special energy, and we have extraordinarily capable people in this bank.'

For Citibank this new boss promises new opportunities. For selected staff there will be the chance to train in London under Mr. Seegers personal direction. For the bank itself a new era of service development is planned.

'We want to deepen the range of what we do and then expand,' says Mr. Seegers, although he refuses to comment on whether acquisitions might form part of this strategy.

'In Asia I was successful in developing Wealth Management, and I want to do that here with new products and services such as the 'Bank in the Sky' which we have not got here yet.

'On consumer credit we want to have loans for the full range of terms and conditions. And done right consumer credit is very good for the development of an economy. It is good for the shops and gets GDP moving faster.'

From the perspective of credit cards - where Citibank holds the pole position in the UAE thanks partly to its link-up with Emirates Airline's frequent flyer programme - Mr. Seegers wants to create the 'ultimate' credit card with a menu of one-to-one benefits to personalize rewards.

'I am extremely optimistic about the outlook for cards,' he says, brushing aside the idea that being No1 is to be heading for a fall. 'The UAE reminds me of Asia. It has people with a dream of success and a tendency to work hard and to manage their wealth for the future. We can address that need.'

Mr. Seegers also notes that the mortgage market is beginning to develop in the UAE, but says that until the right legal structure is in place Citibank is unable to enter this market. However, his hints on the great importance of mortgages to Citibank suggest that once the law is in place there will be no holding back.

He also plans to leverage the global banking network of Citibank to greater advantage, and notes that HSBC is the only bank with a comparable global network. But even HSBC does not have retail branches in Moscow and St. Petersburg to serve the UAE Russian community, for example, while Mr. Seegers has just opened a branch on the Nevsky Prospekt in Russia's second city.

'The other main thrust for us will be the development of Internet banking which also fits in with our global network,' explains Mr. Seegers who launched Citibank Online in 1995.

'There is an amazing convergence of Internet technology. You are going to be able to see your personal banker on your mobile phone, and Internet access will be everywhere. We want to stay in the forefront of this technology and deliver new services to our Internet customers.'

On expansion Mr. Seegers tells the story of Indonesia in 1998 and how the bank used the Asian crisis to win clients and extend its network. For a start Citibank kept credit card lines open for customers while every other bank closed them during the crisis, and then the bank established 60 sales points in six months to grab market share.

The twist in the story is the realization that Mr. Seegers was the man overseeing Citibank operations in the Asia-Pacific region in 1998. One can only wonder how he might lever a future crisis in the Middle East to his advantage, although to be fair his plans for organic growth seem dynamic enough.