Description
Banks today are aware of both the threat and the opportunity that the Web
represents. No traditional bank would dare face investment analysts without an
Internet strategy. But even a detailed and thoughtful approach to the Web does
not guarantee business success. The main purpose behind the launching of
online banking services is to provide the customers with an alternative, more
responsive and with less expensive options. With options just a click away,
customers have more control than ever. They expect real-time answers and
superior usability. They also want personal attention and highly customized
products and services. The focus of e-business must always be on the customer.
On the other hand, the technology and the business structure follow on form of
the value you intend to provide to the customer.
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce
An open access Internet journal (http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/)
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, April 2007, vol. 12, no.1
(http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/)
E-Business Strategy in an Online Banking Services:
A Case Study
Author's Name: Abdullah S. Al-Mudimigh
Author's Title/Affiliation: Assistant Professor
Postal Address: Department of Information Systems, College of Computer &
Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11543, P O Box 51178, Saudi
Arabia
Author’s Personal/Organizational Website: www.ccis.ksu.edu.sa
E-mail :mudimigh(at)ccis.ksu.edu.sa
Brief Biographic Description: Chairman, Information Systems Department, College of
Computer & Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His
research interests are in the areas of enterprise systems (ES), e-business, strategic
information system planning, and customer relationship management (CRM).
Abstract
Banks today are aware of both the threat and the opportunity that the Web
represents. No traditional bank would dare face investment analysts without an
Internet strategy. But even a detailed and thoughtful approach to the Web does
not guarantee business success. The main purpose behind the launching of
online banking services is to provide the customers with an alternative, more
responsive and with less expensive options. With options just a click away,
customers have more control than ever. They expect real-time answers and
superior usability. They also want personal attention and highly customized
products and services. The focus of e-business must always be on the customer.
On the other hand, the technology and the business structure follow on form of
the value you intend to provide to the customer.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -2-
This paper evaluates the success of the e-business model and e-business
strategy implemented by Citibank in the United Arab Emirates in offering its retail
Internet Banking Service; Citibank Online.
Keywords: Electronic Banking, Online Banking, Retail Banking, Internet Usage
©Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Mudimigh, 2007
Introduction
E-business relies on the development of new business strategies based on networks.
The world has become increasingly inter-connected via telecommunication networks and
computers. These offer fast, flexible, and cost-effective ways of doing business.
The Internet is driving the new economy by creating unprecedented opportunities for
countries, companies and individuals around the world. CEOs worldwide recognize the
strategic role that the Internet plays in their company’s ability to survive and compete in
the future. To be competitive in the Internet economy, companies need to harness the
power of the Internet successfully.
Citibank UAE – Background Information
Citibank is a subsidiary of Citigroup, a strong financial brand with more than 100 million
customers, 5.9 million online relationships and a global reach spanning 100 countries.
Citibank UAE started its retail business in 1987 in a very highly competitive environment
offering a comprehensive line of high quality financial services targeted to the affluent
and middle income segments. Citibank has been perceived, as at the edge of
innovation leveraging its global expertise, it was the first bank in the UAE to introduce
innovative e-business solutions like:
1) CitiPhone – 24 hour Phone Banking Service
2) ATMs- Automated Teller Machines
3) CitiAlert – GSM notifications service
4) E-Card – Internet Shopping Card
5) CitiDirect – Corporate Internet Banking Service, and
6) Citibank Online – Retail Internet Banking Service.
In the year 2000, Citibank had 160,000 retail customers serviced mainly through five
branches, six ATMs and CitiPhone. Given the Central Bank restrictions on opening
additional branches, being a foreign bank, the banks’ e-business strategy was to focus
on remote channels of distribution, mainly Internet Banking solutions.
Ms. Sarah Hussain, Web Administrator at Citibank says, “Given the kind of Internet
explosion which the market is going through, Internet is the channel of the future, it is
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -3-
critical for Citibank to leverage this channel aggressively and gain an early and dominant
leadership”.
What encouraged Citibank to proceed with its investment in this direction is the
tremendous growth of Internet usage since its introduction in 1996. According to Etisalat,
the only Internet Service Provider in the UAE, in 2003 the number of Internet users was
1,105,000 in a country with a population of 3.7 million, this number is fairly high and
expected to increase even further.
Table 1 shows the number of Internet users in some of the Arab countries for 2003 as
obtained from Etisalat:
Table 1: Number of Internet users in some of the Arab countries (Etisalat, 2003)
Country Population Internet Users
Internet Users
as
% of
Population
Mobile Phones
users
Mobile
Phones users
as % of
Population
UAE 3,700,000 1,105,000 30% 2,655,000 72%
Qatar 805,000 75,400 9% 328,000 41%
Bahrain 728,000 174,800 24% 400,000 55%
Oman 2,760,000 167,500 6% 528,600 19%
Lebanon 4,387,000 515,000 12% 840,000 19%
Jordan 5,332,000 345,000 6% 1,260,000 24%
Egypt 71,300,000 2,100,000 3% 5,040,000 7%
Table 1 shows that the UAE has the highest percentage of mobile phone users when
compared to the population. It is an eye opener fact, as mobile phones will serve as a
gateway for Internet access in the future, which will definitely impact the future of
e-commerce in the UAE.
In an industry that has became increasingly serviced through remote channels, Citibank
UAE wanted to leverage on the advanced technology available within Citigroup to stand
out, hence Citibank Online was launched in 2000 offering a comprehensive list of
services/functionalities.
E-business Strategy
Based on Porter (1980) generic strategies, Citibank opted for a differentiation strategy
for its home banking service by offering a superior web banking option with powerful and
relevant functionalities wherein customers can access/operate their banking accounts on
the net with full confidence and ease.
In the year 2000, there were only four local banks offering simple home banking
solutions, Citibank wanted to be the first multinational bank to launch a multifunctional
home banking service and own the category before competition becomes fierce in the
field.
Citibank’s mission was to be a leading e-Financial Services company in the UAE by
becoming trusted, premier e-business enabler for its customers.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -4-
The objectives of launching Citibank Online were:
1) Extend its network and overcome the limited branch situation.
2) Achieve savings in CitiPhone/Branches’ operating costs by diverting customers
to the Internet. Citibank Online has one of the lowest “costs per interaction” as
compared to the ATM, phone banking or branch banking. It contributes
immensely as part of the Strategic Cost Management initiatives the bank is
implementing without compromising on the quality of service.
According to an online banking report published by Ernst & Young, the transaction costs
of the various banking channels are as follows:
Branch $1.07
Call Centre (human) $0.85
Automated Response System (AVR) $0.44
Automated Teller Machine $0.27
Dialup PC banking 1.5 Cent
Internet Banking 1 Cent
3) Meet the increased consumer demand for quick and secure banking solutions,
anywhere, any time on any device, this is important in staying ahead of
competition.
4) Enhance the brand imagery and values in the mind of the customers and the
prospects by owning this channel especially that Citibank is seen to be innovative
and ahead of most other banks in terms of technology and product development.
5) Create another arm for deepening customer relationships through cross sell and
acquisitions of new customers.
Updated, Table 2 shows the list of Citibank Online functionalities covering all
Citibanks’ products in the UAE.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -5-
Table 2: Citibank Online functionalities
Account Information:
Balance Summary
Account details and Activity
Download Account Activity
Transfers & Payment
Funds transfers within the UAE
Funds transfers outside the UAE
Payments
Payee list
Standing Instructions
Demand draft and managers checks
Investments Services
Open a mutual fund account
Complete a personal Investment
worksheet
Buy mutual funds
Sell mutual funds
Switch mutual funds
View current mutual funds portfolio
Mutual funds information
Customer Service
Account servicing
Rate information
Apply now
Contact Center
Send messages
Read messages
Read saved messages
Information Center
Link to the portal
In order to encourage trial and conversion, Citibank reduced the charges for many
services if used on Citibank Online as part of its pricing strategy. Citibank addressed the
security issues by using the industry level of encryption of 128 bit Secure Socket Layer
(SSL) encryption. The bank also uses firewalls to prevent unauthorized access and an
automatic 'timeout' feature if no activity was detected for a specific time period. The
online session is launched by using a password selected by the customer.
E-business Model
Citibank Online is considered as a standard Business to Consumer approach, the e-
business model Citibank is using can be classified as “Merchant”. See Table 3.
Without the intervention of the AVR, ATM or CitiPhone Officers, a Citibank customer can
access and operate all his relationships with Citibank at a click of mouse in complete
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -6-
privacy. In doing so, Citibank is balancing between security and accessibility of
information leveraging on a robust e-banking service available within Citigroup.
The three elements of the business model; value stream, revenue stream and logistics
stream are complementing each other in this specific case. Citibank was certainly
focusing on adding value to its customers by offering unmatched level of service and
security. Its internal logistics were aligned towards a single objective; launching a
powerful service to its customers to complement its e-business strategy overall.
Revenues after a period of time started flowing too, making the investment worthwhile.
Table 3: e-business models
Brokerage
Market makers bringing together buyers
and sellers and facilitating transactions.
Advertising
A web-advertising model and extension
of the traditional media broadcasting
model where websites provide content
and services and advertising messages.
Merchant
Retailers selling goods directly to buyers
(Citibank Online)
Infomediary
Collecting and disseminating information
Manufacturer
Manufacturers using the web to reach
buyers directly, eliminating wholesalers
and retailers.
Subscription
Payment of fees to access information or
services.
Evaluation of E-business strategy and model
There are many ways of evaluating the success of the e-business model and e-business
strategies of Citibank, one of which is looking at the financials for the performance of the
service for the past four years. Ms. Sarah Hussain, Web Administrator at Citibank says
“The results of the service represented in the information management system reports
covering the performance of Citibank Online from 2001 to 2004 are very satisfactory and
have met the management’s expectations”
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -7-
Table 4: Number of active Citibank Online customers
2001 2002 2003 2004
No. of active
customers
4000 5000 6000 7500
No. of transactions 72,000 90,000 112,000 150,000
Transactions value $656,000 $820,000 $984,000 $1,230,000
Table 4 shows that the number of active users increased from 2% in the second year of
launch to 6% in 2004, a healthy gradual increase. The transaction values increased too
indicating that customers are feeling more comfortable now managing their funds on the
Internet. This is as a result of the heavy investment in promoting and educating the
customers on the gained benefits of using this service. Citibank invested around
$350,000 towards the marketing budget in the first year of the launch.
Table 5: New accounts opened through Citibank Online
2001 2002 2003 2004
No. of accounts 4000 5000 6000 7500
Avg. accounts 72,000 90,000 112,000 150,000
Balance/account $656,000 $820,000 $984,000 $1,230,000
Total revenue 46,500 139,500 217,000 310,000
Citibank Online is proving to be a successful acquisition and revenue-generating
channel, despite the fact that the management did not expect any revenues to be
generated for the first three years of the launch.
The deployment of the program to Citibank UAE, played a very important role in gaining
those revenues, as Citibank UAE did not fund the development work, there were only a
couple of adjustments made to the service to suit the UAE requirements.
According to Timmers (1999) there are two dimensions of analyzing the e-business
model:
1. The degree of innovation:
Citibank is excelling in building and maintaining the competitive advantage in
the Internet era, all functionalities offered were well studied and executed in a
way where matching them is indeed a difficult task. Flexibility is built in the
system for further enhancements and additions.
2. The extend to which the new functions are integrated within the
business model:
The functionalities added fit perfectly with the e-business strategy and
business model opted. They contribute directly towards meeting the
objectives.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -8-
Conclusion
This paper examined the e-business strategy and e-business model that have been
used by Citibank in the UAE in offering its Retail Online Banking Service to its customers.
Based on the evaluation, it is very clear that the e-business strategy is complementing
the e-business model used.
According to Timmers (1998), a business model in itself does not yet provide
understanding of how it will contribute to realize the business mission of the companies
who is an actor within the model. Therefore, it is important to supplement it with the e-
business, marketing and sales strategies.
Through Internet solutions, Citibank has maintained its agility and competitive advantage,
gaining substantial benefits from them. It is important to note that customers in the
Internet economy are well informed and their expectations continue to increase,
therefore the ability to respond rapidly to customer demands and deliver value is
imperative. At the end, it will continue to be that – “The bet is on the NET! Ms. Hussain
said.”
References
Porter, M.E (1980) Competitive Strategy, New York: The Free Press.
Timmers, P. (1998) Business models for electronic markets. Focus theme EM,
Electronic Markets, Volume8, No.2.
Timmers, P. (1999) Electronic Commerce: Strategies and models for Business to
Business Trading, J ohn Wiley and Sons Ltd.
doc_151727670.pdf
Banks today are aware of both the threat and the opportunity that the Web
represents. No traditional bank would dare face investment analysts without an
Internet strategy. But even a detailed and thoughtful approach to the Web does
not guarantee business success. The main purpose behind the launching of
online banking services is to provide the customers with an alternative, more
responsive and with less expensive options. With options just a click away,
customers have more control than ever. They expect real-time answers and
superior usability. They also want personal attention and highly customized
products and services. The focus of e-business must always be on the customer.
On the other hand, the technology and the business structure follow on form of
the value you intend to provide to the customer.
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce
An open access Internet journal (http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/)
Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, April 2007, vol. 12, no.1
(http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/)
E-Business Strategy in an Online Banking Services:
A Case Study
Author's Name: Abdullah S. Al-Mudimigh
Author's Title/Affiliation: Assistant Professor
Postal Address: Department of Information Systems, College of Computer &
Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11543, P O Box 51178, Saudi
Arabia
Author’s Personal/Organizational Website: www.ccis.ksu.edu.sa
E-mail :mudimigh(at)ccis.ksu.edu.sa
Brief Biographic Description: Chairman, Information Systems Department, College of
Computer & Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His
research interests are in the areas of enterprise systems (ES), e-business, strategic
information system planning, and customer relationship management (CRM).
Abstract
Banks today are aware of both the threat and the opportunity that the Web
represents. No traditional bank would dare face investment analysts without an
Internet strategy. But even a detailed and thoughtful approach to the Web does
not guarantee business success. The main purpose behind the launching of
online banking services is to provide the customers with an alternative, more
responsive and with less expensive options. With options just a click away,
customers have more control than ever. They expect real-time answers and
superior usability. They also want personal attention and highly customized
products and services. The focus of e-business must always be on the customer.
On the other hand, the technology and the business structure follow on form of
the value you intend to provide to the customer.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -2-
This paper evaluates the success of the e-business model and e-business
strategy implemented by Citibank in the United Arab Emirates in offering its retail
Internet Banking Service; Citibank Online.
Keywords: Electronic Banking, Online Banking, Retail Banking, Internet Usage
©Dr. Abdullah S. Al-Mudimigh, 2007
Introduction
E-business relies on the development of new business strategies based on networks.
The world has become increasingly inter-connected via telecommunication networks and
computers. These offer fast, flexible, and cost-effective ways of doing business.
The Internet is driving the new economy by creating unprecedented opportunities for
countries, companies and individuals around the world. CEOs worldwide recognize the
strategic role that the Internet plays in their company’s ability to survive and compete in
the future. To be competitive in the Internet economy, companies need to harness the
power of the Internet successfully.
Citibank UAE – Background Information
Citibank is a subsidiary of Citigroup, a strong financial brand with more than 100 million
customers, 5.9 million online relationships and a global reach spanning 100 countries.
Citibank UAE started its retail business in 1987 in a very highly competitive environment
offering a comprehensive line of high quality financial services targeted to the affluent
and middle income segments. Citibank has been perceived, as at the edge of
innovation leveraging its global expertise, it was the first bank in the UAE to introduce
innovative e-business solutions like:
1) CitiPhone – 24 hour Phone Banking Service
2) ATMs- Automated Teller Machines
3) CitiAlert – GSM notifications service
4) E-Card – Internet Shopping Card
5) CitiDirect – Corporate Internet Banking Service, and
6) Citibank Online – Retail Internet Banking Service.
In the year 2000, Citibank had 160,000 retail customers serviced mainly through five
branches, six ATMs and CitiPhone. Given the Central Bank restrictions on opening
additional branches, being a foreign bank, the banks’ e-business strategy was to focus
on remote channels of distribution, mainly Internet Banking solutions.
Ms. Sarah Hussain, Web Administrator at Citibank says, “Given the kind of Internet
explosion which the market is going through, Internet is the channel of the future, it is
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -3-
critical for Citibank to leverage this channel aggressively and gain an early and dominant
leadership”.
What encouraged Citibank to proceed with its investment in this direction is the
tremendous growth of Internet usage since its introduction in 1996. According to Etisalat,
the only Internet Service Provider in the UAE, in 2003 the number of Internet users was
1,105,000 in a country with a population of 3.7 million, this number is fairly high and
expected to increase even further.
Table 1 shows the number of Internet users in some of the Arab countries for 2003 as
obtained from Etisalat:
Table 1: Number of Internet users in some of the Arab countries (Etisalat, 2003)
Country Population Internet Users
Internet Users
as
% of
Population
Mobile Phones
users
Mobile
Phones users
as % of
Population
UAE 3,700,000 1,105,000 30% 2,655,000 72%
Qatar 805,000 75,400 9% 328,000 41%
Bahrain 728,000 174,800 24% 400,000 55%
Oman 2,760,000 167,500 6% 528,600 19%
Lebanon 4,387,000 515,000 12% 840,000 19%
Jordan 5,332,000 345,000 6% 1,260,000 24%
Egypt 71,300,000 2,100,000 3% 5,040,000 7%
Table 1 shows that the UAE has the highest percentage of mobile phone users when
compared to the population. It is an eye opener fact, as mobile phones will serve as a
gateway for Internet access in the future, which will definitely impact the future of
e-commerce in the UAE.
In an industry that has became increasingly serviced through remote channels, Citibank
UAE wanted to leverage on the advanced technology available within Citigroup to stand
out, hence Citibank Online was launched in 2000 offering a comprehensive list of
services/functionalities.
E-business Strategy
Based on Porter (1980) generic strategies, Citibank opted for a differentiation strategy
for its home banking service by offering a superior web banking option with powerful and
relevant functionalities wherein customers can access/operate their banking accounts on
the net with full confidence and ease.
In the year 2000, there were only four local banks offering simple home banking
solutions, Citibank wanted to be the first multinational bank to launch a multifunctional
home banking service and own the category before competition becomes fierce in the
field.
Citibank’s mission was to be a leading e-Financial Services company in the UAE by
becoming trusted, premier e-business enabler for its customers.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -4-
The objectives of launching Citibank Online were:
1) Extend its network and overcome the limited branch situation.
2) Achieve savings in CitiPhone/Branches’ operating costs by diverting customers
to the Internet. Citibank Online has one of the lowest “costs per interaction” as
compared to the ATM, phone banking or branch banking. It contributes
immensely as part of the Strategic Cost Management initiatives the bank is
implementing without compromising on the quality of service.
According to an online banking report published by Ernst & Young, the transaction costs
of the various banking channels are as follows:
Branch $1.07
Call Centre (human) $0.85
Automated Response System (AVR) $0.44
Automated Teller Machine $0.27
Dialup PC banking 1.5 Cent
Internet Banking 1 Cent
3) Meet the increased consumer demand for quick and secure banking solutions,
anywhere, any time on any device, this is important in staying ahead of
competition.
4) Enhance the brand imagery and values in the mind of the customers and the
prospects by owning this channel especially that Citibank is seen to be innovative
and ahead of most other banks in terms of technology and product development.
5) Create another arm for deepening customer relationships through cross sell and
acquisitions of new customers.
Updated, Table 2 shows the list of Citibank Online functionalities covering all
Citibanks’ products in the UAE.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -5-
Table 2: Citibank Online functionalities
Account Information:
Balance Summary
Account details and Activity
Download Account Activity
Transfers & Payment
Funds transfers within the UAE
Funds transfers outside the UAE
Payments
Payee list
Standing Instructions
Demand draft and managers checks
Investments Services
Open a mutual fund account
Complete a personal Investment
worksheet
Buy mutual funds
Sell mutual funds
Switch mutual funds
View current mutual funds portfolio
Mutual funds information
Customer Service
Account servicing
Rate information
Apply now
Contact Center
Send messages
Read messages
Read saved messages
Information Center
Link to the portal
In order to encourage trial and conversion, Citibank reduced the charges for many
services if used on Citibank Online as part of its pricing strategy. Citibank addressed the
security issues by using the industry level of encryption of 128 bit Secure Socket Layer
(SSL) encryption. The bank also uses firewalls to prevent unauthorized access and an
automatic 'timeout' feature if no activity was detected for a specific time period. The
online session is launched by using a password selected by the customer.
E-business Model
Citibank Online is considered as a standard Business to Consumer approach, the e-
business model Citibank is using can be classified as “Merchant”. See Table 3.
Without the intervention of the AVR, ATM or CitiPhone Officers, a Citibank customer can
access and operate all his relationships with Citibank at a click of mouse in complete
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -6-
privacy. In doing so, Citibank is balancing between security and accessibility of
information leveraging on a robust e-banking service available within Citigroup.
The three elements of the business model; value stream, revenue stream and logistics
stream are complementing each other in this specific case. Citibank was certainly
focusing on adding value to its customers by offering unmatched level of service and
security. Its internal logistics were aligned towards a single objective; launching a
powerful service to its customers to complement its e-business strategy overall.
Revenues after a period of time started flowing too, making the investment worthwhile.
Table 3: e-business models
Brokerage
Market makers bringing together buyers
and sellers and facilitating transactions.
Advertising
A web-advertising model and extension
of the traditional media broadcasting
model where websites provide content
and services and advertising messages.
Merchant
Retailers selling goods directly to buyers
(Citibank Online)
Infomediary
Collecting and disseminating information
Manufacturer
Manufacturers using the web to reach
buyers directly, eliminating wholesalers
and retailers.
Subscription
Payment of fees to access information or
services.
Evaluation of E-business strategy and model
There are many ways of evaluating the success of the e-business model and e-business
strategies of Citibank, one of which is looking at the financials for the performance of the
service for the past four years. Ms. Sarah Hussain, Web Administrator at Citibank says
“The results of the service represented in the information management system reports
covering the performance of Citibank Online from 2001 to 2004 are very satisfactory and
have met the management’s expectations”
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -7-
Table 4: Number of active Citibank Online customers
2001 2002 2003 2004
No. of active
customers
4000 5000 6000 7500
No. of transactions 72,000 90,000 112,000 150,000
Transactions value $656,000 $820,000 $984,000 $1,230,000
Table 4 shows that the number of active users increased from 2% in the second year of
launch to 6% in 2004, a healthy gradual increase. The transaction values increased too
indicating that customers are feeling more comfortable now managing their funds on the
Internet. This is as a result of the heavy investment in promoting and educating the
customers on the gained benefits of using this service. Citibank invested around
$350,000 towards the marketing budget in the first year of the launch.
Table 5: New accounts opened through Citibank Online
2001 2002 2003 2004
No. of accounts 4000 5000 6000 7500
Avg. accounts 72,000 90,000 112,000 150,000
Balance/account $656,000 $820,000 $984,000 $1,230,000
Total revenue 46,500 139,500 217,000 310,000
Citibank Online is proving to be a successful acquisition and revenue-generating
channel, despite the fact that the management did not expect any revenues to be
generated for the first three years of the launch.
The deployment of the program to Citibank UAE, played a very important role in gaining
those revenues, as Citibank UAE did not fund the development work, there were only a
couple of adjustments made to the service to suit the UAE requirements.
According to Timmers (1999) there are two dimensions of analyzing the e-business
model:
1. The degree of innovation:
Citibank is excelling in building and maintaining the competitive advantage in
the Internet era, all functionalities offered were well studied and executed in a
way where matching them is indeed a difficult task. Flexibility is built in the
system for further enhancements and additions.
2. The extend to which the new functions are integrated within the
business model:
The functionalities added fit perfectly with the e-business strategy and
business model opted. They contribute directly towards meeting the
objectives.
JIBC April 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 -8-
Conclusion
This paper examined the e-business strategy and e-business model that have been
used by Citibank in the UAE in offering its Retail Online Banking Service to its customers.
Based on the evaluation, it is very clear that the e-business strategy is complementing
the e-business model used.
According to Timmers (1998), a business model in itself does not yet provide
understanding of how it will contribute to realize the business mission of the companies
who is an actor within the model. Therefore, it is important to supplement it with the e-
business, marketing and sales strategies.
Through Internet solutions, Citibank has maintained its agility and competitive advantage,
gaining substantial benefits from them. It is important to note that customers in the
Internet economy are well informed and their expectations continue to increase,
therefore the ability to respond rapidly to customer demands and deliver value is
imperative. At the end, it will continue to be that – “The bet is on the NET! Ms. Hussain
said.”
References
Porter, M.E (1980) Competitive Strategy, New York: The Free Press.
Timmers, P. (1998) Business models for electronic markets. Focus theme EM,
Electronic Markets, Volume8, No.2.
Timmers, P. (1999) Electronic Commerce: Strategies and models for Business to
Business Trading, J ohn Wiley and Sons Ltd.
doc_151727670.pdf