A friend of mine recently received this email - in a very random sort of fashion - seeings as though she is not anywhere near needing a new checking account, let alone one in India:
Enjoy multiple benefits with a single Rupee Checking Account. Citibank NRI business presents to you the Citibank Rupee Checking Account (RCA) - a power packed account that caters to the banking needs of Indians living abroad and offers multiple conveniences. Your Account comes with these benefits:
ATM/Debit Card for family in India FREE
DD delivery to India1 FREE
International Debit Card FREE*
Easy Money Transfers YES
Internet Banking YES
Pay Utility Bills in India YES
*For NRE customers only - Open your account now and get a set of two movie DVDs3 - 'Singh is Kinng' & 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' FREE!! Also enjoy 10 years waiver on Minimum Balance. Offer valid till 30th April, 2009.
Warm regards,
Citibank, N.A. , India.
So the funny irony of this is that I spent HOURS both sending emails and on the phone attempting to get CitiBank to respond to my inquiries about opening an international bank account.
I actually WANTED and NEEDED such a thing. 10 emails and 4 lengthy phone calls later, I went with HSBC because of their AMAZING customer service and PROMPT response to my questions.
To this day, CitiBank has still yet to give me the answers to questions that one would likely have about opening an account with international presence.
Oh wait, I take that back. About two weeks after my initial inquiries to their "Request Help from an Agent" attempts, I did get a response from a gal who promised to send out the paperwork required for an account setup, but that email/attachment never came.
Good thing CitiBank has this email marketing campaign working for them. If they relied on their customer service alone, they'd have no accounts.
