Citi Handlowy, a Warsaw-based bank and member of international financial conglomerate Citigroup, has begun offering the “CitiBusiness for Start-Ups” (CitiBusiness na Start) package with the aim to provide stable financing for CitiBusiness microentrepreneurs. The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that comprise CitiBusiness customers are marked by annual sales less than the equivalent of USD 3.7 million. To qualify for “CitiBusiness na Start” the company may not have been on the market for more than a year.
The companies that participate in the offer can receive a “credit facility” of up to an equivalent of USD 4,647 through a credit card that allows access to Polish discount programs. Additionally, the loan will have a 54-day grace period and a minimum monthly payment of 3.41 percent. They will not be required to pay a fee on their business accounts for the first six months. Money transfers will be available online, without cost, to social insurance institution Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych and Urzad Skarbowy, the Polish Revenue Office. The final included service is access to ATMs through Citi Handlowy; Euronet, a worldwide operator of independent ATMs; and eCard, an e-finance company based in Warsaw.
Citi Handlowy’s new package for SMEs follows other recent offerings to CitiBusiness customers. In October 2007, they first launched Credit Cards for Micro Business to provide access for SMEs to both credit and to a discount program to help reduce purchasing costs. Citi Handlowy was recognized for this credit card during Poland’s annual EUROPRODUKT contest, a competition judging the technology, functionality and customer service of Polish companies and their products. More recently, in April 2008, Citi Handlowy began providing prepaid credit cards to its SME customers.
Citi Handlowy, a member of Citigroup, was incepted in 2001 when Citibank Poland and Poland’s oldest bank, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie SA, merged. The bank offers financing, cash management, trade financing, trade transaction processing and investments to companies of all sizes. According to its Annual Report 2007, Citi Handlowy’s total assets were equivalent to USD 17.7 billion while their return on assets was 12.06 percent (p 10). Based off their shareholders equity of the equivalent of USD 2.2 billion (p 10) and their total liabilities of the equivalent of USD 15.1 billion (p 8) their debt-equity ratio was calculated to be 6.97 percent.
By Sarah Knapp, Research Assistant
CitiBusiness: “CitiBusiness for Start-Ups”, Credit Cards for Micro Business
Citi Handlowy: Annual Report 2007, Products
Zaklad Ubezpieczen Spolecznych
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