After nearly three years, Citi announces the successful separation from Banamex

Citi announced on Monday the «successful separation» of its institutional banking operation in Mexico from its consumer and corporate banking businesses, a process that began in early 2021 and will not be completed until 2024.

«With this separation, effective December 1, Citi will now operate two independent financial groups in Mexico: Grupo Financiero Citi Mexico and Grupo Financiero Banamex,» the company said in a news release.

The separation, according to the bank, is a significant step forward in the implementation of its strategic objective to streamline the organization.

“This separation represents an important milestone in our simplification and moves us closer to our long-term vision of a more connected bank focused on our core strengths,” said Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi.

Citi will provide a range of financial products and services to financial institutions, governments, investors, multinationals, and firms wanting to internationalize through its four business lines, which are Banking, Markets, Services, and Citi Private Bank, according to the institution.

Grupo Financiero Banamex will include Banco Nacional de México, which provides retail banking services such as wealth and private banking, consumer credit, mortgage loans, deposits, payroll services, payments, and a full range of business banking products, as well as Tarjetas Banamex, Afore Banamex, Seguros Banamex, and Pensiones Banamex, which offer credit cards, retirement asset management, insurance, and pensions, respectively.

Citi, which has been in the country for 140 years, will continue to provide financial services to around 20 million customers through online banking and mobile applications, as well as a network of approximately 1,300 branches and more than 9,100 ATMs nationwide.

Finally, it stated that Grupo Financiero Banamex will retain the over 39,000 personnel who now support these enterprises, as well as Banamex’s art collection, historic structures, and social and cultural foundations (Fomentos).