Credit Guides And Credit Services

Citibank Ranked Number One Online Bank by Watchfire GomezPro

Online Service Also Takes Top Honors in the On-Site Resources, Internet Transactor and One-stop Shopper Categories

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2004--

Citibank.com has again been ranked # 1 overall in online banking in the Q2 2004 Internet Banker Scorecard published by Watchfire(R) GomezPro(TM), the website benchmarking and assessment services business unit of Watchfire Corporation. WatchfireGomezPro Services offer customers the ability to benchmark their online business against industry best practices and evaluate key tasks for user experience issues to improve the effectiveness of this channel.
The most recent Watchfire GomezPro Scorecard states, "Citibank is most notable for offering a broad and deep array of information and functionality to both prospects, and more importantly for the Scorecard, existing customers." The company also took top honors in the On-Site Resources, Internet Transactor and One-stop Shopper categories. This is the seventh time Citibank has been awarded the number one Scorecard position.

The Watchfire GomezPro Scorecard also states that new changes to Citibank.com include the ability for new-to-bank customers to start using a checking account before the bank has received signature cards, and the ability for prospects to send a secure message to the bank though an on-site email service which has been available to existing customers for a long time. Additionally, the Scorecard noted improvements to the site demonstrations and the help system.

"We appreciate the Scorecard's thorough assessment and evaluation of ongoing developments in the online financial services industry. It encourages all of us to work harder, and we continually strive to make Citibank.com the best service available in online banking," said Catherine Palmieri, Managing Director of Citibank.com.

Citibank.com allows the use of e-signatures to expedite account openings and is the only major bank in the industry widely offering Inter-Institution Funds Transfers to its customers. The service also provides advanced features such as online check images, online chat with instant callback features, an online bill payment promise, consolidated email and wireless alerts, and last-time login time stamp. Among other product distinctions, Citibank offers seven-year statement history, online wire transfers and Citibank(R) Global Transfers, an affordable, convenient real-time funds transfer service between Citibank accounts domestically and internationally and to Banamex accounts in Mexico. The service also offers account aggregation, transaction capabilities in English and Spanish and a robust customizable home page.

Citibank.com is offered for free, along with free unlimited online bill payment, to Citibank account holders. Citibank currently has approximately 4 million consumer bank customers in the U.S., and almost 1.5 million bank online. Over the past year, Citibank customer activations for online banking services have doubled, and customer activations of bill payment have increased nearly threefold.

Watchfire GomezPro Scorecards are available at http://www.watchfire.com/scorecards. To learn more about Citibank.com, consumers may visit www.citibank.com or call 1-800-374-9700.

Citibank is a member of Citigroup (NYSE: C), the preeminent global financial services company with some 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries, which provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity. Additional information may be found at: www.citigroup.com.

Contacts


Citibank
Mark Rodgers, 212-559-1719

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