News

Australia's NAB announces plans to buy Citi's local consumer business

Monday 9 August 2021 12:56 CET | News

National Australia Bank has announced plans to buy Citigroup's local consumer unit for about USD 882.24 million.

The move follows the American bank’s announcement to exit the region while buy-now, pay-later rivals challenge the old credit card business model. The deal consolidates more than 90% of the country’s credit cards industry into the hands of Australia's Big Four banks, with NAB adding a million customers through the deal to become the nation's second-largest credit card provider, according to Reuters.

Credit card payments in Australia have been shrinking as government pandemic cheques have been used to pay down debt and younger generations turn to buy now pay later (BNPL) providers such as Afterpay to pay in ‘interest-free’ instalments.

Citi's institutional business and underlying technology or platforms are not part of the deal, which is expected to close by March 2022, subject to the regulatory approvals.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it would look ‘extremely closely’ at ‘any further consolidation involving large players in the banking sector’.


Source: Link


Free Headlines in your E-mail

Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.

Subscribe now

Keywords: acquisition, BNPL, banks, credit card
Categories: Banking & Fintech
Companies:
Countries: Australia
This article is part of category

Banking & Fintech






Industry Events