[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]With the advent of digital banking, where the bank sees 9 out of every 10 transactions in Korea happen outside a branch, and the long term low trend of lower profitability in the Korean Banking sector, Citibank Korea is updating its footprint in the market to better reflect changing consumer needs.

As a result, Citibank Korea is transforming its distribution model to optimize its presence in Korea. Citi’s footprint in the country will be concentrated in 6 major cities including Seoul with a focus on high quality client segments and an enhanced digital experience, consistent with the bank’s global consumer strategy. Korea is Citi’s third largest retail franchise in the world, and one of its most important markets globally, generating over $1.5 bn of revenues in 2013.

Citi already operates 28 Smart Banking branches in Korea, offering consumers an interactive digital experience, and the bank plans to accelerate its digital rollout, enhancing its mobile and tablet platforms, over the next 12 to 18 months.

The branch repositioning involves the consolidation of 56 out of its 190 customer locations: ‘Technology is transforming the way in which we serve our clients. Our bank needs to adapt and lead the digital transformation. This is a big change for our franchise and we believe that this will help us compete effectively in Korea’s highly digitized market. We will do our utmost to ensure we help our employees and customers through this transition’

The bank announced that it will fully communicate with customers of closing branches and take all proactive measures in advance to minimize any possibility of customer inconvenience. The branch consolidation will be carried out in multiple stages to minimize customer inconvenience by arranging for adjacent branches to provide continued service.