Citibank 2006 Annual Report Download - page 10

But when that fi rst client gently placed her
fi nger on a small scanner at the Coffee Bean
& Tea Leaf in Singapore late last year, Anand,
Nicole, and Nigel—along with every member
of the biometric project team—knew that the
way people pay for things could be changing.
Citi had just rolled out the world’s fi rst
biometric credit card service in Singapore.
No longer would holders of Citi’s Clear
Platinum Card need a credit card to dine,
shop, or simply buy a cup of coffee in many
of Singapore’s retail outlets. Just a fi ngerprint
would do.
Said Nicole: “This is the kind of client inno-
vation that we want to be known for, and to
be able to play a small part in making it
happen is very gratifying.”
one more innovation
When Anand Cavale, Citibank Singapore’s Business Director for Credit
Payment Products; Nicole Ang, Head of Core Cards; and Nigel Siah,
Product Manager, were coming to work every morning last year, it never
dawned on them that they were making history.
Teams of people from across our Cards and
Citibank businesses, along with our Opera-
tions & Technology specialists, partnered to
give clients not only more choices in how
they pay, but greater protection against
credit card fraud.
“Being the fi rst to do this is terrifi c,” said
Nigel, “but we also feel that Citi contributed
to changing the credit card market and
how clients behave. That’s pretty awesome,
when you think about it.”
The service, of course, has been expanded
to other cardholders, and will be coming
soon to other locations, but our employees
in Singapore take special pride in being
there at the beginning.
“This kind of initiative only succeeds,”
Anand said, “because we have people from
various units willing to work together from
day one and share their knowledge so we
can serve our clients better.”