“We do not charge anything without consent”

What is the literacy initiative that Citi has launched?We think that financial literacy is very important in India. We saw what happened in ...

What is the literacy initiative that Citi has launched?
We think that financial literacy is very important in India. We saw what happened in some other markets like Korea with debt and the first signs are here in India. Even now we get calls from parents of young adults who have gone abroad leaving a large personal debt behind. We think it is time that we took an initiative and helped people understand debt and how to use it better. The booklet we have prepared will discuss these issues.

Most people don’t look at books or reading material seriously. As a bank, is it not better to work on your own customer interface and prevent those in contact with the customers to give the right advice?
We are doing that as well. In fact, we plan to have debt clinics in major metros where people can come with their debt problems and we can work out a solution.

What about stealth banking charges? People complain that Citi is still charging for product features without taking consent.
These have stopped totally. They are no longer there.

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Consumers still complain about Citi’s recovery agents.
These incidents have reduced sharply. That is why the debt clinics are so important, we’d rather work directly with the customer who has a problem paying back the debt. The 30 cents on a dollar we pay the recover agents, we’d be happy to knock off from the debt.

So why hire them in the first place?
Recovery is a problem, if you decide to walk away with Citi’s money, there is nothing we can do. But now with the setting up of the credit bureau, this problem should get solved.

What about escalation, customers complain about having to deal with call centre operators who can’t help at all?
We have put an escalation process in place and senior people will be managing these lines. You can also talk to a person at a higher level if not satisfied.