1. Citibank should maximize profits in developed countries where there are very large populations with potential customers. The economy in Asia-pacific countries is not as developed as the United States and Europe. Citibank has the opportunity cost of maximizing profits in the United States and Europe for risking the card launch in Asia and not getting results from that.
2. If Citibank decides to launch the new card to Asia-Pacific countries, they should go ahead and launch it in some countries and wait a while before launching it in others. There are numerous countries in the Asia Pacific region with different people and different income levels all spread out, varying from country to country. Some countries have very strict government regulations while others have extremely high poverty levels. Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Australia are ideal markets to launch the card. Although Australia requires a high deposit, it’s perfectly ok because the average customers’ balance is also high.
3. Citibank should improve market positioning in the countries they plan to launch their new card. They can easily target the Australian market by keeping their annual fees very low since that is what they seem to be unsatisfied with the most. In Hong Kong, card users use their card on a very frequent basis (for daily grocery shopping, vacations, and more). Citibank should make sure that they cater to this segment, specifically. Telephone banking would be successful here. In Malaysia, targeting the rural market would be ideal since their population is huge. Opening ATMs and targeting the family segment would be recommended since there are many personal retail purchases that take place. They should not plan on targeting the corporate-customer segment since it is very small, and they spend very little (only for food and entertainment purposes). Most of the profit in Thailand comes from tourists; this is why it’s a problem to launch credit card services