Citibank Launching Credit Card in Asia Pacific

In my opinion, I think right now, Citibank can implement credit card in Hong Kong and also in Malaysia. The other countries mention need to wait the right time to implement this card system. I think we should group these countries to two categories, one which is advance country and the other which is developing country.

The reason I choose Hong Kong, is that credit card is no longer a foreign term for consumer in Hong Kong. However compared to Singapore and Australia which are also consider one of the advance country in this region, there is a saturated market compared to Hong Kong.

In Singapore, due to political stability, it has been developed to be one of the world's largest centers for international trade and services. The term credit card is no longer a foreign term for citizen in Singapore. With an average per capita income of $8800, the standard of living in Singapore causes average Singaporeans cardholders to own an average of two cards. There are already a lot of competitors like American Express, large international banks such as Hong Kong Bank, Chase etc and local banks such as United Oversea Bank causes a hard entry for Citibank.

In Australia, the credit card market was already saturated by the year 1989. The average Australian holds 2 cards and with about 10.5million cards in force, it would be hard for Citibank to enter the market.

Besides that, Citibank also acquire the Diners Club business from Hong Kong's Standard Chartered Bank which franchise license was given to one company per country. Having this license in this country mean they would have fewer competitors.

Another factor is having Diners Club franchise license will also boost Citibank fame and reputation. Diners Club was consider as one of the status of symbol. Having a credit card under Diners Club, it would be much greater compare to a normal credit card.

Although Taiwan is one of the advance countries in the region having the rank as the twelfth largest trading power, with the law and restriction in the country, Citibank had a hard time to enter the market before 1989. The reason is one consumer could only have one card and international cards are prohibited to be distributed in Taiwan.

In July 1989, law and restriction was lifted on international cards, multiple card ownership and revolving credit, the government however still retain its control through the National Credit Card Center (NCCC). Another point is American Express and Diners Clubs are exempted from NCCC control, this would indeed be a disadvantage if Citibank were to enter that market.

For the entry mode for Hong Kong, as mention, we should use strategic alliances. Having Diners Club franchise license in Hong Kong, would indeed help to enter the market of Hong Kong.

For developing countries, I choose Malaysia and Thailand. Compare to other developing countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and India, Malaysia is the