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Citi Makes Mobile Banking Progress – or Does It?
On the surface, it would seem that Citibank has taken a notable step forward in its mobile banking services. On the surface, that is.
Today, Citi introduced not one, but two mobile banking programs (ht to Payments News). Firstly, Citi introduced Citi Shopper, a mobile shopping app powered by Slifter and built by GPShopper. Secondly, Citi is making available MasterCard PayPass stickers that can be affixed to the back of mobile phones for contactless payments. To help with PayPass, Citi also be providing a mobile PayPass locator application to help cardholders find PayPass-accepting merchants.
This all sounds really good, and it is to some degree. PayPass is a good contactless option for card issuers, and Citi’s embrace of the PayPass platform is a big notch in MasterCard’s belt.
It’s the Citi Shopper app that seems more, well, confusing. Basically, I just don’t get it. Why would I want to shop for, say, Dean Koontz’s new book, through Citibank? Citi Shopper is nothing more than a shopping service with the Citi logo slapped on it. Citi doesn’t even execute the purchases. If you want Madonna’s new CD (you can’t download the music directly to your mobile device, unfortunately), you can order it from Best Buy on Citi Shopper — on backorder, no less. That users cannot order results by price just adds to the Citi Shopper question.
Reward points is the purported answer to this question. For each $2 of Citi Shopper purchases, Citibank customers get one ThankYou Point. ThankYou Points can be redeemed for the usual rundown of rewards items, such as travel.
I guess Citi Shopper will find takers. I sort of wonder about the whole premise of rewards points for banks. Getting rewarded is nice — but does buying a Madonna CD really comport with a bank’s brand? Does it really merit “reward points” from a bank? At least this Citibank customer is not sure.
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