Citi India customers’ transition to Axis Bank effective from tomorrow

Private sector lender Axis Bank on Thursday said that the deal to acquire Citibank's India's consumer business and NBFC business will be completed by tomorrow, 1 March 2023.

Axis Bank will acquire Citibank’s India consumer business from Citibank N.A. (CBNA) and NBFC from Citicorp Finance (India) Limited (CFIL), according to its regulatory filing.

In March last year, Axis Bank said it reached an agreement to buy Citibank’s consumer business in India for ₹12,325 crores ($1.6 billion) in cash. Citibank’s consumer business includes loans, credit cards, wealth management, and retail banking operations. The bank’s credit card portfolio comprises affluent customers who have higher average spending than the industry.

The bank had given a timeline of 12 months to complete this acquisition. In July last year, Axis Bank got approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the same.

“Based on the progress made to date, we estimate a reasonable possibility of completion of the acquisition by March 1, 2023, which is within the timeline of 12 months indicated earlier by us, subject to the satisfactory completion of the customary and contractual conditions in accordance with the provisions of the CBNA BTA and CFIL BTA, as referred above," said Axis Bank in its filing.

The deal will see a credit card portfolio of 25 lakh users, deposits of ₹50,200 crore, and wealth management assets worth ₹1.1 for Axis Bank.

Axis Bank will gain access to seven offices, 21 branches, and 499 ATMs currently owned and operated by Citi.

Axis Bank’s Cards balance sheet to grow by 57% with an additional 2.5 million Citibank cards, making it one of the top 3 Cards businesses in the country.

Axis Bank reported a 62% surge in fiscal third quarter net profit. Profit for the quarter ended 31 December climbed to ₹5,853 crore from ₹3,614 crore a year earlier.

Axis bank shares closed 1.44% up at ₹845.15 on BSE.