Mr Luet has more than 20 years of retail and credit card experience, including many years in the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region (CEEMEA), which encompassed 80 countries. He joins Citi from Visa, where he was president of CEMEA and a member of the company’s operating committee.
He has previous experience at Citi, having been CEO of Citibank Belgium and CEO of the retail business for Citibank Hungary before departing in 2002. Before joining Visa, he was CEO of consumer finance and retail international at Fortis Group.
Alberto Verme, joint CEO of Citi EMEA, said: “Mr Luet’s expertise in the region will prove invaluable as we position ourselves against some of the fastest growing consumer banking markets in the world. The emerging market consumer banking business will be one of our key growth areas in this region for many years to come.”
Bill Mills, joint CEO of Citi EMEA, said: “Citi’s consumer and wealth management franchise is uniquely positioned in the region’s developing markets, where we provide premium banking services and credit cards to the rapidly growing base of affluent and mass-affluent customers. He is the ideal candidate to position us against this growing customer base.”
Mr Luet said: “I am excited by the challenge of leading Citi’s consumer banking, credit card and wealth management franchises in the region. The business is well positioned to benefit from increased demand for premium banking services, where Citi offers customers access to top-tier investments, offshore banking, multi-currency deposits and best-in-class service, including dedicated relationship managers.”
Citi has a consumer franchise in 10 CEEME countries with more than 1.5 million retail bank clients and 2.5 million credit card accounts. The bank’s credit card market share exceeds 10% in five countries.
Citi’s consumer business is particularly focused on Turkey, Poland, Russia and the Middle East, which are expected to account for 90% of the revenue growth in the region.
