A decision on the sale of Citi’s $2bn Australia and New Zealand banking business is said to be imminent.
While ING has been the front runner, the NAB is apparently competing strongly for the business.
One motivating factor is that the proportion of earnings from mortgages is lower at NAB than the other major three Australian banks.
The credit cards operation is seen as very attractive to NAB, which recently bought 86400 for its U Bank digital business in a quest to secure its cutting-edge technology.
Observers say the Citi business provides white label products for others, and NAB could originate home loans and credit cards from the Citi business digitally.
Citi’s Australia and New Zealand consumer banking operations offer deposits, mortgages and credit cards.
APRA figures show Citi’s Australian retail banking arm had a residential mortgage book of $4.1bn and investor housing book of $2.44bn. Its credit card business has $3.6bn in loans while the bank has a deposit book of $7.3bn.
Citi will now focus on investment banking in Australia. In April said it was pursuing an exit from consumer banking businesses in 13 markets, including Australia, following a strategic review.
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