City Bank’s winning formula: Trust, tech and teamwork

City Bank now serves 3 lakh customers daily, with 80% using digital channels. In an interview with The Business Standard's Tonmoy Modak, Arup Haider, deputy managing director of City Bank, explains how strong governance, smart investments, and employee-focused policies drove the bank's record growth in 2024.

Through branches, sub-branches, ATMs, call centres, lounges, and the Citytouch app, City Bank serves around 300,000 customers every day. Of these, 80% of customers receive services without physically visiting a branch.

The bank's massive deposit growth and over Tk2,000 crore in profit in 2024—joining the elite club of high-profit banks—can largely be attributed to its digital services. At the same time, improved governance has increased customer trust

How did City Bank achieve such high deposit growth?

Many say that banks with a strong image like City Bank have benefited from the image crisis faced by some other banks. What has become clear here is that public trust is the core raw material of a bank's business. 

City Bank has earned that trust—not just in 2024, but over a long journey. There was a time when City Bank was considered a problem bank. Through gradual transformation, we have reached where we are today.

The core reason behind City Bank's improved image is a culture of good governance. Because of this practice, people now believe that the bank operates within rules and regulations, which means their money is safe.

If we credit our performance only to the image crisis of other banks, we would be doing many people an injustice. Our long-term strategic vision has played a major role in this growth. For example, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the largest shareholder in City Bank, which reassures the public of good governance.

We are also the only bank in Bangladesh that onboarded Amex International in 2015, becoming the largest credit card provider in the banking industry.

Around 2014–15, we introduced our digital banking app 'Citytouch', which now handles transactions from about 7,50,000 customers. Last year, the app facilitated transactions worth Tk1 lakh crore with around 2 crore transactions. That's a major achievement in a country like Bangladesh.

In terms of deposits, there are two types: rate-sensitive fixed deposits and service-sensitive savings deposits. We've taken several initiatives to improve our service, including a strengthened call centre that receives around 16,000 customer calls daily. 

Across our branches, sub-branches, ATMs, lounges, call centres, and Citytouch, we serve nearly 3 lakh customers daily. 

Infograph: TBS

Of these, only about 60,000–65,000 (or 20%) physically visit a branch or sub-branch. That means 80% of our customers don't need to come to a branch for service—which itself is a testament to why they trust us.

In summary, our high deposit growth stems from good governance, strong partnerships with credible stakeholders, image-building initiatives, and a focus on service quality—though the image crisis of other banks may have given us a slight boost.

Many banks faced a liquidity crisis in 2024, but City Bank didn't. How did you manage your liquidity?

Yes, a few banks did face a liquidity crisis, but we didn't. We managed to invest efficiently and wisely across loans and advances, treasury bills, bonds, and other available investment opportunities. 

That's how we joined the club of banks that made over Tk 2,000 crore in operating profit. In 2024, our operating profit was Tk 2,300 crore—compared to Tk 1,350 crore the previous year. So, it's not just about collecting deposits—you must also invest them wisely to generate good income, and we did well in that area too.

While many organisations cut jobs last year, City Bank increased salaries adjusted for inflation. This increased your cost by Tk300 crore. How was this possible, and why did you do it?

Everything we've achieved as a bank has been possible because of careful planning—and, more importantly, because our colleagues brought those plans to life. The success of City Bank is, without a doubt, thanks to their hard work and dedication.

At City Bank, our values guide everything we do. And one of those values is recognising and sharing our success with the people behind it—our team.

For us, that means helping our colleagues improve their quality of life and social standing. So when the proposal for salary increments was brought to the board—even though our costs were rising—the decision was unanimous. The board approved it without hesitation.

We made a conscious effort to prioritise employees on lower salaries, offering them higher increments, keeping in mind the impact of inflation.

Why? Because our guiding principle for the year is simple: "Happy employee, happy customer, happy shareholder."

When employees feel valued and supported, they naturally provide better service. And when customers are happy, shareholders have every reason to be happy too.

What lessons should banks take from the 2024 crisis?

Governance is a time-tested value. For any institution to be sustainable in the long term, good governance is essential. There is no alternative. An institution without good governance might perform well in the short term, but in the long run, it will fail. While we performed well in 2024, we'll have to continue striving to maintain that performance.

Why should customers choose to deposit their money in City Bank?

If I were a customer, I'd choose the bank with the best service. Most reliable banks tend to offer fairly similar rates. So for me, the quality of service would be the real deciding factor. Minor differences in interest rates, especially on small fixed deposits, don't make much of a difference—unless we're talking about deposits of over a crore.

I'd prefer to keep my money with a bank that values me, treats me with respect, and offers a smooth, helpful experience. That's the kind of service we aim to provide at City Bank.

Although some banks with a similar-sized balance sheet serve only 50,000 to 80,000 customers a day, we're proud to serve nearly 3 lakh daily. We're working hard to bring banking services closer to people across the country—through agent banking and sub-branches.

Over the past two years, we've launched 50 sub-branches, and we plan to open another 50 this year. On top of that, we'll be setting up 1,000 new agent points.

Because at the end of the day, we believe that maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers is key—not just to serving them better, but also to achieving our business growth targets for 2025.