Originally Posted by FTRox87

I believe its the Saudi royal fam that owns 10% of Citigroup. and this was before the subprime meltdown. not sure if they've doubled down and invested more (or reversed course and divested now -- not that it matters considering how frivolous they are with their money.)


I think there are many reasons for this list and the decision that was made to go ahead with it (since we dont know the inside history/behind the scenes details of the TY program for purposes of transfer partners.) but from this news alone we can deduce:

- Citi wants to let its customers know (or rather think -- cause perception is reality) that its working to change things up by 'enhancing' its current program and product offerings. but at the same time as a new player in the transfer program, they prolly wanna minimize their costs.

- which means signing up transfer partners which are gonna require a lot of effort to build up substantial balances to redeem anything of worth. all while the risk of imminent and stealthy deval is a constant risk (just ask TG) ... the more Citi's customers work aka spend to build up their balances, the better it is for business and their bottom line. add the cherry on top about aspirational awards that never come to fruition cause one is always chasing the carrot ahead on a stick.

- IMHO its clear that Citi thinks MEA & APAC are bigger growth areas that they need to target, not only for its customer base that uses their products but perhaps they think the 'demand' is gonna come from these regions. I'm talking about where ppl might wanna fly too and the FFP/loyalty programs they would thus ascribe to.

- with that above line of thinking in mind, perhaps the US/EU markets are tapped out (for now) ... and I dont mean in terms of business generated for Citi (which could be stagnant and would explain marketing pushes like the CitiAA Exec bonanza) but perhaps transfer partners have exclusive agreements with UR/MR/SPG. or perhaps the US/EU transfer partners have a higher cost of doing business that Citi cant justify right now (keep in mind Citi in effect 'buys' the points that you transfer to their partners.)