The Competition Commission of India has approved Axis Bank’s proposed acquisition of Citi’s consumer business in India, paving way for one of the largest deals in the country’s financial services space.
Under the Rs 12,325-crore deal, announced on March 30, Axis Bank would take over Citi’s credit cards, personal loans and wealth management businesses that are focused on the affluent segment.
In March, Axis Bank and Citi had signed a definitive agreement for the deal, which is expected to be completed by September 2024 and would help Axis Bank gain access to 30 lakh new customers.
Transition Period
When the deal was finalised in March, the lenders had said that the transition will take 9-18 months with the flexibility of an additional six months. The cost of transition will be around Rs 1,500 crore, and out of this Rs 1,100-Rs 1,200 crore will be paid by Axis Bank. The Citi customers will be gradually shifted to the Axis Bank platform in a gradual manner.
Will the deal have an impact on services?
Once the merge is done, the current features, services and benefits of the credit cards will remain the same for customers, of they will be enhanced.
Axis Bank has also said that customers will not see any change in the people they interact within the bank, and customer experiences will remain the same or will it be improved further.
The only change is that Citi Bank’s customers will become Axis Bank’s customers and will have access to the latter’s technology and offerings.
Know your customer (KYC)
After the merger of the two lenders, KYC will take place again, as required by the regulatory authorities.
Branches
The branches will not change and they will remain the same as currently. As most of Citi’s branches are at prime locations, Axis Bank has said that it would keep them to serve customers.
