Many branch jobs are still safe from machines: Citi CEO

Bloomberg

Citigroup Inc spends about $8.5 billion a year on technology, but the bank’s boss says that doesn’t mean branch workers will all be replaced by machines anytime soon.
Modernising the bank’s app and digital-banking experience won’t necessarily result in Citigroup needing fewer people in its retail bank, Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat said on Tuesday in a Bloomberg Television interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Instead, it will mean “being smarter” about how those employees are used, he said.
Corbat, who said the pace of change is happening slower than most people think, said one goal is for Citigroup’s mobile application to look and feel more like popular ride-sharing or retail apps. Those efforts don’t mean abandoning the branch model because many consumers still want both experiences, he said.
“We have a large cohort of people that want their ‘I want it now’ mentality in terms of their digital banking on their app, and they want to come in our branch.”