Citi has been present in Hungary since 1985 and Citibank Hungary was the first franchise Citi established in Central and Eastern Europe.

Citibank in Hungary has been operating as a branch office of the Irish based Citibank Europe plc since January 2009 as Citibank Europe plc Hungarian Branch Office. As a branch of Citibank Europe plc, we are part of a European entity with a larger balance sheet and a greater lending capacity that makes us an even stronger partner for our clients in Hungary.

The past 25 years have been very challenging and also very successful. In the first ten years, we built a formidable presence in the corporate banking market, forging profitable and durable partnerships with large Hungarian corporations, global subsidiaries clients operating in Hungary.

In 1995 we expanded our business into the area of consumer banking by opening the first consumer branch at Vorosmarty Square in Budapest. Building on our tradition in innovation, Citibank was the first bank in Hungary to introduce a 24-hour telephone customer service in 1995, to offer personal installment loans without collateral requirements in 1996, to issue the first real credit card in Hungary in 1998 and to offer offshore mutual funds for private customers in 2002. Unique to the market were the Citigold Wealth Planner in 2003, the Equal Payment Plan for credit cards in 2004, the Citibank Platinum Credit Card in 2006, the Citigold Select Center and Citigold Global Access in 2007, the Zero Fee Bank Accounts in 2008 and the Magyar Telekom-Citibank co-brand credit card in 2009.

In 1998 Citibank Hungary acquired Europai Kereskedelmi Bank (European Commercial Bank), which had many years of experience in serving small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and launched the SME business. With the acquisition of ING Bank's Hungarian consumer and SME business together with its branches in 2000, Citibank increased its customer base, and established its country-wide branch network.

Citibank Hungary's diversified distribution network consists of branches, internet banking, telephone customer service and sales agents. The list of Citibank branches is available at our Branch Network site.

City Bank of New York, the predecessor of Citibank was founded in 1812. The bank's long tradition of innovation, flexibility and professional experience has resulted in its success in becoming a truly global leading financial institution.

Our Roots

The bank's early history was marked by its rapid growth. In 1894, it became the largest bank in the US and by 1902, the bank had expanded into Asia. By 1930 it was the largest international bank in the world with 100 branches in 23 countries outside the USA.

The bank's name was changed to Citibank in 1976. In the 1980s Citibank began to serve consumer clients internationally.

As a result of the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe, Citi expanded into this region in the late 1980s by opening a bank in Hungary in 1985. Being customer-focused is key to Citi's success, and this success lies in continuously striving to provide a seamless and tailored service to all customers.

Citi's worldwide expansion gained even greater momentum in October 1998 when it merged with Travelers Group Inc. The largest financial institution in the world, Citigroup Inc. was born.

Citi's global priority is to provide all customer segments with a wide range of high quality products and services based on the professionalism, dedication, commitment and experience of its employees.

Today Citi has presence in more than a hundred countries around the world.

Citibank Europe plc Hungarian Branch Office, a member of Citi

We, at Citibank Hungary are committed to being an active and supportive member of the communities in which we do business. In line with Citi's global corporate social responsibility strategy we primarily focus on financial education and building NGOs and small businesses. Junior Achievement Hungary and NESsT are our main community partners in the development and execution of our long-term programs. We partner with NGOs in order to enhance the impact of our community programs by leveraging their expertise and long-term experience, and we also invite Citibank experts to volunteer their time and knowledge to support our programs.

Most of our programs are funded by the Citi Foundation. The Citi Foundation is globally committed to the economic empowerment of individuals and families, particularly those in need, in the communities where we work so that they can improve their standard of living. In addition, we have some long-term programs in the fields of health care and arts education, which are driven by the special needs of the Hungarian communities. We partner with United Way Hungary in delivering these programs.

Financial education programs

In 2001 Citibank launched the Citibank Financial Education School Program in partnership with Junior Achievement Hungary, which is an ongoing program. Together with the donation in 2009, we have donated more than one million dollars in total through the Citi Foundation so far, which went towards providing teaching materials to more than 120,000 students in 284 elementary schools across Hungary.

The aim of the program is to provide schools with modern, technology-based curriculum resources and innovative teaching strategies, which will increase students' knowledge, skills and performance in finance and economics.

Educational DVDs in finance and economics for grades five to eight have been prepared by Junior Achievement based on their printed teaching materials developed in the US and adapted to the specific interests of Hungarian students.

In 2007 the program was enhanced to include setting up and running small student enterprises that will teach students how to operate a small enterprise successfully and in an ethical way in this challenging market environment. Each year the students' enterprises have the opportunity to introduce themselves and their products at a Student Fair organized by JAH.

We continue our Citibank Corvinus University Financial Program that we launched in 2004. Our aim with this program is to support the Corvinus University of Budapest in its endeavor to continuously increase the level of financial education and offer their students access to the most up-to-date information and trends in the financial markets. This we achieved partly by financial support of a total of more than $200,000 from the Citi Foundation, and also, by organizing Citibank local volunteers to give lectures and presentations in specific financial and banking subjects. In 2008 we launched a Citi Case Study Competition, winners of which are receiving a Citibank Study Award every year, while in 2009 the program was enhanced to include the Citi Best Graduating Student Award.

In 2002 Citibank Hungary, together with the Foundation for Developing Financial Culture nonprofit organization, co-founded the Andras Felkai Academic Award, as a tribute to Andras Felkai, a highly trained professional and a prominent and respected member of the Hungarian financial sector, who passed away in a tragic accident. The family of Andras Felkai, several financial institutions and individual donors have also contributed to the fund. The annual award, which is paid from the interest of the fund, supports the postgraduate studies and study trips of talented university students and young professionals selected by the judging committee. Through this award, Citibank hopes to contribute to the enrichment of the Hungarian economic and financial sector with highly qualified professionals who display personal qualities similar to those of Andras Felkai including his open-minded, positive attitude, competence, leadership and international outlook.

Capacity building and financial support for NGOs and small businesses

In 2007 we launched the NESsT-Citi Social Enterprise Competition for Central Europe (Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) in which civil society organizations are competing with their business plans for setting up and running social enterprises. The aim of this program is to support NGOs in their effort to start their own enterprises the earnings of which enables them to both create their long-term financial sustainability and deliver their community goals. In addition to financial support the assistance provided by NESsT and Citibank extends to training and consultation, professional guidance and business mentoring. Citibank volunteers help evaluate the feasibility studies and business plans and participate in the NESsT-Citi awards selection process.

We continue this program in 2010 with including further organizations from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Motivated by the great success of the first project, NESsT and Citibank launched a similar program in the SME business sector in 2009. The new program is the first in the country that aims at supporting small enterprises that find social responsibility important, putting great emphasis on sustainable development and job creation. Citibank professionals are volunteering their time and expertise to support the small businesses in developing their business plans, assessing the plans in the competition as well as in the awards winner selection process.

Health care

Since 1998 each year we are selecting a children's hospital to support the institution in buying a state-of-the-art medical equipment selected by them.

Arts education

Through the Association of Friends of Franz Liszt Music Academy, Citibank has been supporting further education of young talented Hungarian musicians for nine years. The funding enhances the Academy's efforts to maintain and expand its international reputation for excellence in music education. Specifically, the Citibank grant awards scholarships, which allow students to participate in international master classes and competitions.