Citi sees a doubling in its Asian digital users in 5 years

Hong Kong

CITIGROUP expects to double digital-banking users in Asia in the next five years, helping the third-biggest US lender by assets boost client accounts and revenue without the cost of setting up branches.

The 7.5 million customers using Citigroup's online and mobile-banking services in the region will probably grow to 15 million by 2019, bolstered by rising affluence and a burgeoning middle class, Jonathan Larsen, Asia-Pacific head of consumer banking, said in an interview in Hong Kong last week.