TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................................................1

ACKNOWLEDEGEMENTS.........................................................................................................................2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................3

COMPANY BACKGROUND.......................................................................................................................4

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION..................................................................................................5

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION.................................................................................................................6

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION...............................................................................................................7
CITIMAIL....................................................................................................................................................7
REPORTS....................................................................................................................................................9
INTERVIEW EVALUATION..................................................................................................................11
INTERVIEW SUMMARY FORM..........................................................................................................11
INTER BANK COMMUNICATION.........................................................................................................13
ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER.......................................................................................................13
CHIPS...................................................................................................................................................14
SWIFT...................................................................................................................................................18
LETTERS..................................................................................................................................................22
LETTER # 1 – ADDRESSED TO THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE.......................................................23
LETTER # 2 – ADDRESSED TO THE SBP.........................................................................................24
LETTER # 3 – ADDRESSED TO HABIB BANK LTD..........................................................................25
EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION............................................................................................................27
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS...............................................................................................................27
Citibank Car Financing........................................................................................................................28
Citibank Home Loans - "Let your home finance your family's future"................................................28
Citibank Home Loans - "Turn you Dreams into Reality".....................................................................29
Citibank Credit Cards...........................................................................................................................29
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION........................................................................................................30
LETTER – ADDRESSED TO SAPPHIRE TEXTILE MILLS................................................................30
PAYLINK..............................................................................................................................................31
EASYPAY..............................................................................................................................................31
CONSUMER COMMUNICATION.........................................................................................................32
LETTER ADDRESSED TO CREDIT CARD HOLDER........................................................................32
HR LETTERS............................................................................................................................................33
LETTER ADDRESSED TO MR. FAZLE HASSAN...............................................................................33
GENERAL ASSOCIATION LETTER....................................................................................................34
REJECTION LETTER..........................................................................................................................34
LETTER EXPRESSING INTEREST.....................................................................................................35
CERTIFICATION LETTER..................................................................................................................35
LETTER ADDRESSED TO A JOINING INTERNEE...........................................................................35
WEBSITE..................................................................................................................................................36
INTERVIEWS...........................................................................................................................................37
THE ASSESSMENT INTERVIEW GUIDE...........................................................................................37
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................42

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 ACKNOWLEDEGEMENTS

No work can be done alone – it was the same with this report.
There were many people who helped us in making us this report.
Not the least, we would both like to thank each other for doing
our respective share of work rather than leaving it for each other
to finish.

Then we would like to thank the various people at Citibank who

helped us, namely…

Ms. Romana P. Khokar

Ms. Faaiza Rashid
Mr. Yawer Shameem
Mr. Faisal Ansari

In the end, we would also like to thank Mr. Zeeshan Ahmad,

Course Instructor – Business Communication for giving us all the
moral help and for guiding us in the right direction in making this
report.

Thank you everyone!!!!

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report has analysed the communication techniques

prevailing at Citibank, N.A. Karachi.

After starting off with the Importance of Communication to

Citibank, we moved onto the Internal Communication at
Citibank – Citimail, Reports and Interview Evaluations. We
have analysed these in terms of channels, layouts and the
seven C’s of communication wherever appropriate.

We then moved on to the Inter-Bank Communication at

Citibank – CHIPS and SWIFT (two mechanisms of EFT) and
have analysed the letter with respect to Plan Followed and
the 7 C’s.

External Communication has been analysed into

Promotional, Corporate, Consumer, HR, Websites, Interviews
– all with respect to plans, seven C’s etc. wherever
appropriate.

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 COMPANY BACKGROUND

Citibank, N.A., is a global bank - a part of the CitiGroup. The bank is divided into two
basic divisions - Global Finance (GF) and Global Consumer Banking (GCB). The GF
is a corporate bank providing private banking, investment banking and other commercial
services to its corporate customers. The GCB provides Citibanking, private banking,
consumer finance and credit cards services to its consumers.

Besides the headquarters in Karachi, there is one more branch here and overall 5
branches in Pakistan. It provides various services to its customers - details discussed later
- and also offers its customers the use of overseas Citibank branches.

This report is on the communication techniques employed by the divisions of Citibank

(headquarters) and its analysis and effectiveness.

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 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION

Twenty first century corporations will find it hard to survive, let alone flourish, unless
they get better work from their employees. This does not necessarily mean harder work
or more work. What it does mean is

1. Employees who have learned to take active responsibility for their own
behaviour
2. Empowerment
3. Valuable and accurate information

Information is dependent on one and only one channel – Communication – the potential
lifeblood of an organisation. For an organisation to even begin to develop a competitive
advantage, a strong desire to strengthen all communication channels is required as the
first step. By communication channels we mean the physical and the non-physical
channels of communication. Luckily it is within an organisation’s control to manage and
build its entire internal and external communication channel. The non-physical channels
are the ‘networked individuals’ within an industry, which in the case of Citibank, N.A.
span globally.

The physical channels of communication are the telephone lines, ISDN lines, and EFT
terminals. The non-physical channels of communication are the networked individuals
globally, government officials, analysts and employees. They all combine to make
Citibank’s communication the one of the best globally.

Communication is the single most important and most vital factor required of effective
and efficient day to day working of any organisation. Good communication in itself can
motivate employees, cut costs that are lost in incorrect information and provide a
functional competitive advantage. Thus this aspect needs to be strengthened for all
organisations.

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 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Citibank, Global Finance, Pakistan has its main office located in Karachi at AWT Plaza,
I.I. Chundrigar Road. Other centres are located in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. The
bulk of transactions take place through the Karachi Centre, which serves as a virtual
headquarters of the Pakistan’s Citibank Corporate Network. With an open attitude
towards the environment, Citibank stresses on being a good corporate neighbour. The
company is involved in the following types of communication:

1. Internal Communication
2. Inter-Bank Communication
3. External Communication

Internal Communication is a broad parameter that covers the employee-employee and

company-employee communication channels. Citibank extensively has to work to
develop a system of etiquette, protocols and transmission channels to facilitate its
information flow.

Inter-Bank communication refers to those transaction deals and contracts that Citibank
undertakes and enters into with other banks and monetary institutions to expand the
working of the organisation. It refers to communication between Citibank and local
government and government officials, local and foreign banks and money market &
clearing houses. It is this communication that allows financial and strategic contracts to
take place.

External communication incorporates communication with customers, consumers and

other corporations – in terms of letters, advertisements and other promotional materials. It
also incorporates communication with prospective employees, agencies, institutions etc
which all focus on building goodwill of the company.

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 INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

This is the communication that functionally can motivate employees and effectively cut
costs. Thus this communication if used from a vantage point can serve to form a
competitive advantage to the company. Citibank has a system of reports, presentations,
meetings, seminars, training workshops, etc. Extensive information on the Citibank
Intranet is given below. Citibank is also connected to the local branches, city wise
through a local PABX telecommunication system.

The different kinds of internal communication that we will be analysing are as follows…

1. Citimail
2. Reports
3. Interview Evaluation

CITIMAIL
The primary requirements of Citibank communication are being met through a
telecommunication network (Intranet) known as “Citimail”. Citimail is a widespread
network that scales all the branches of Citibank globally. Citibank exclusively uses the
network and hence no other traffic is present. Citibank owns the GCN (Global
Communication Network - what carriers the Citimail) network. From Pakistan to
Bahrain, Citibank leases PTCL lines. From there the lines are connected to Europe via
other leased lines. Thereon all telecommunications flows through Citibank owned
network. The Intranet is very secure and easy to use as it has a GCN code encryption
techniques and does not require extensive dial numbers for communication between
branches.

Within Pakistan the main branches all have an extensive LAN, which are securely
connected with the LANs of other inter-city Citibank branches. This networking forms a

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band, which is connected to COM servers of Karachi and Lahore. PTCL lines are leased
in the formation of WANs. The corporate bank has its primary databases in Bahrain
whereas the consumer bank has its databases in Singapore.

Citibank consumer databases are maintained in Singapore, as maintenance is very

important and expensive of large consumer databases. If a transaction takes place with a
credit card, the payee calls up the local Citibank office, let us say in Karachi; the message
is then interpreted and transferred on to the PTCL lines en-route to Singapore, where the
databases are held and maintained. All approvals and notifications take place in
Singapore. The message is then sent bank via the same lines. All of this takes place in a
span of seven (7) seconds.

Advantages of the GCN

The GCN network is fast hence communication time is decreased and more information
can be interchanged between employees - leading to better service and workings. It is
easier to use for all concerned and leads to a more inter connected enterprise - enabling
effective customer satisfaction. The GCN is also very secure and hence prevents any
Communication Barriers.

The 7 C's of Communication

The 7 C's analysis of the GCN network - the Citimail - are presented as follows…

Completeness Since emails are short, concise and usually written using
acronyms for words, there is the danger of communication being
incomplete and the sender asking for meanings. To prevent this,
the employees are told to standardise their language.

Conciseness A computer email is always very concise and coming from one
internee ‘…they are fine – just the right length…’.

Consideration When used internally, goodwill-creating messages are avoided

through this impersonal medium and transferred more personally.

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 This leads to better employee morale.

Concreteness We have no written email and hence are unable to comment

specifically on it. However one email that we did see had
relevant files attached to it (Excel & Word), so we would assume
that they contained the relevant facts and figures.

Clarity Again the employees are advised to standardise the language so

that they are understood by all.

Courtesy

Correctness

REPORTS
As in every organisation, there are frequent internal reports. According to Mr. Yawer
Shamim, reports are communicated in three ways - presentations (analysed later), email
attachments and distributed via hard copy (on paper - as we are). Email attachments has
been analysed above. Over here we will be analysing a Progress Report that has been
generated as part of the Citibank Management Associate Program. The report is
attached in the appendix.

We obtained a progress report on a newly appointed employee who had undergone the
routine rotation at the Citibank. This rotation involves a working in all departments of
Citibank and submitting in reports so that the skills of the employee can be evaluated and
he or she can be assigned to task accordingly.

Purpose:
The report is an evaluation of the competence of a newly appointed employee.

Heading:

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The headings are ‘topic’ headings as nouns are used as headings throughout the report.
Only ‘first degree’ headings, that is, right aligned headings have been used. The report
covers six points.

Body:
The report can be classified as a progress report. The first heading ‘Rotation’ covers the
areas, which the person who is being evaluated has covered. This serves as an
‘introduction’ to the report. It is a clear, complete and a concise coverage of all the
relevant information.

The second heading ‘reports’ deals with all the accomplishments covered during the
reporting period. In this case these are the reports that the new employee presented on
various departments. Next comes the ‘Rotation Evaluation’, which deals with a short
analysis of the working environment, and the tasks, and assignments that the subject was
given.

A concise and a complete evaluation along with the unanticipated problems are given.
Also present is a summary evaluation along with a short explanation of the feedback
opined by the department heads as regards the working of the employee. ‘Development’
emphasises upon the areas where the subject can work on to improve his or her skills.
‘Conclusion' is stated in the last paragraph and contains an overall appraisal of the
progress report. Recommendations are also stated in the conclusion.

Analysis of the 7 C's…

Completeness The report shows all the achievements of the MA - from what he
has done in all departments and what he has achieved there.
Finally the report makers views are also stated. Hence this report
is complete to all details for the necessary evaluation of the MA.

Conciseness Moving away from the traditional norms, this report is only two
pages long and hence very concise.

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Consideration The language used is very considerate - no harsh words are used
at all. Even the one reprimand is stated impersonally.

Concreteness In our opinion, this is missing. There are no specific facts and
figures used in describing the achievements, just simple "…
varying degrees of learning…" However Concreteness is
followed in the first 2 headings where the departments are all
mentioned.

Clarity Language used is very clear and vivid.

Courtesy

Correctness Also present in the form of department names, different work

done and improvements. One area, which might lack it, is the
recommendation about where the MA should work - this is
highly subjective to the report maker and may not take into
account the views of the MA.

INTERVIEW EVALUATION
The decision to hire or not (external communication) is done by HR. However there
many people who take the interviews - department vice presidents etc. They then need to
evaluate the interviewee and then communicate effectively about such analysis to the HR.
This is done via an Interview Summary Form. This is attached in the appendix.

INTERVIEW SUMMARY FORM

The interview summary form for Citibank N.A is attached in the appendix

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The sheet starts off with the personal information about the interviewee - name, date of
interview, college etc. Mostly the summary form is MCQ type - the interviewer does not
have to write excessively. The two important areas of the summary form are the Overall
impression area and the Comments area.

In the overall impression - the interviewer is asked to rank the candidate on a scale
similar to the Likert Scale ranging from 1 = very weak to 5 = exceptional. Thus there are
no in-betweens and the job is made easier for the HR department in making the final
decision. Thus this communication achieves Completeness and Conciseness at the same
time. However Correctness might be missing out, as there may be some in-betweens.

The comment section is more descriptive - here the interviewer gets the chance to write
his views on the interviewee achieving Correctness, Concreteness and Completeness.
Note that the space is quite limited with regards to the criterion used in the interview
assessment guide, thus the interviewer has to be very precise and accurate and not at all
verbose – Conciseness. Finally, the opinion of the interviewer is asked for regarding the
interviewee (turn him down, hire, or send to another department) – thus the HR is very
Clear as to what they should do about the employee.

Given the lengthy interview and the many criteria used, the interview summary sheet is
just what it says to be - an effective summary about the applicant so that he may be
evaluated as best as possible. All or most of the 7 C’s are either followed or can be
followed very easily with minimal effort.

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 INTER BANK COMMUNICATION

Citibank needs an effective funds generation, transfer and management channel. Citibank
is this extensively involved in CHIPS and SWIFT, global corporations that deal in EFT
transactions. Citibank also needs to enter into contracts with government and other
banks. We were able to get letters addressed to the government of Pakistan, SBP and
another bank regarding various issues. It was interesting to note that the letter written to
the government of Pakistan official followed the Bad News plan, whereas that to the
fellow bank followed the direct plan. This accounts for the differences in cultures and
protocols of different institutions.

The two type of Inter bank Communication channels that we have analysed here are as
follows :

1. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

2. Letters

ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is of vital importance to the workings of the modern day
interconnected/global bank. EFT allows financial institutions to transfer funds between
them electronically, eliminating the paper need.

Being a global bank, Citibank is heavily dependent on EFT and thus most of its financial
correspondence with other banks all around the world is via this medium. This leads to
almost no paper letters/records (hence no letters or such in the appendix) but better cost
savings, time, efficiency and effectiveness. The two types of EFT used by Citibank are
CHIPS and SWIFT.

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 CHIPS

CHIPS - the Clearing House Interbank Payments System - is an on-line, real-time

electronic payment system that transfers funds and settles transactions in U.S. dollars. It
is the central clearing system in the United States for international transactions, handling
over 95% of all dollar payments moving between countries around the world.

A private-sector system, CHIPS is owned and operated by The Clearing House Interbank
Payments Company L.L.C. The membership consists of 79 of the world's largest
commercial banks. A complete list of the members of CHIP Co is attached in the
appendix. These members have an ownership interest in CHIP Co and will share in its
governance. The list includes Citibank, N.A. - thus integrating CHIPS even more into
Citibank.

Before CHIPS came into existence, all payments made internationally used to be
communicated via messengers, cable and wire transfers as shown via the following
example.

A clothing importer in Barcelona, Spain, asked her bank to send 1 million

in U.S. dollars to a distributor in Milan, Italy, in payment for a shipment
of designer evening wear. Barcelona Bank A initiated a transfer of the $1
million from its account in its New York correspondent bank, Bank B, to
pay the New York branch of Italian Bank C.

In New York, Bank B received the cabled instruction, translated the cable
and tested its authenticity. A typist prepared an official check and the
required documentation for it. An account officer approved the check and
signed it.

Bank B's messenger carried the check to the New York Clearing House for
one of three daily exchanges, where the check and its backup
documentation were passed to a Bank C messenger for delivery to the
Italian bank office.

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 At Bank C, employees entered the check on the account ledger and typed
the necessary records to account for the payment and notify their Milan
customer of the funds received. Finally, they bundled the check together
with the rest of the day's items for collection clearings and sent it back to
the Clearing House for settlement at 10 a.m. the next business day.

Such an ineffective system involved great physical burden and paperwork not to mention
the slow time factor. Today with the help of CHIPS, the same scenario looks pretty much
better and more cost and time efficient and a lot easier.

Barcelona Bank A transmits instructions to its correspondent, New York

Bank B, which verifies the transmission.

A terminal operator at Bank B enters the relevant information for the

funds transfer into Bank B's CHIPS interface computer, with the
identifying documentation.

The central CHIPS computer at the Clearing House, based on Bank B's
information, edits and authenticates the message, stores the transaction,
and causes a "store" acknowledgement message to be transmitted back to
Bank B.

Subsequently, Bank B approves the stored transaction and releases it to

CHIPS which screens the payment against risk controls. CHIPS then
sends a "receive" message to Bank C, automatically debits Bank B and
credits Bank C.

Bank C notifies its Milan office by automated telecommunications

message to pay the clothing exporter.

As the transactions occurs, the Clearing House nets this transaction with
all other transactions between the two banks and further nets the positions
of each of these banks with all other transactions so that each participant
on CHIPS has a single net position (which will be a debit or credit). At the

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 end of the day, the Clearing House will send a summary report to each
participant showing its net position.

The above example also shows the processes involved in a transaction through CHIPS.
Briefly they are as follows :-
1. Relevant information is entered into the CHIPS computers at Citibank
2. The central CHIPS computer then authenticates the message
3. The bank approves the transaction and after screening against controls,
CHIPS debits Citibank and credits ABN-AMRO bank accounts
4. ABN-AMRO is informed of funds received
5. At the end of the day, the position is netted off

One of the processes above is when CHIPS screens the payment against risk control. This
is done to ensure that the communication between Citibank and other banks is smooth,
uninterrupted and secure - no communication barriers. CHIPS divides risk into three
categories - operational, systemic and fraud risk.

Operational Risk :- To prevent any breakdown in operations, CHIPS has dual computers
at its primary site and an identical system at a separate site. High-speed lines link the two
sites. Hardware and software are rigorously tested periodically. There is also a
contingency centre where a parallel data-base is maintained in real time. This centre is
also capable of operations in a contingency situation.

Systemic Risk :- This is extremely important to CHIPS as it is a private funds transfer

network with no central bank support; and as a result all risk is borne by the participants.
CHIPS implemented certain controls to prevent risk e.g. Same-Day Settlement, Bilateral
Credit Limits, Sender Net Debit Limits, Settlement Finality etc. All these controls lessen
the risk attached with the transaction. The details are in the appendix.

Fraud Risk :- To protect against fraud risk, the Clearing House has encoding and
message authentication on all transactions. Authentication is the process of identifying

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the message originator and verifying that the information received has not been altered
intentionally or accidentally.

These different types of risk ensure that there are no communication barriers in financial
communications of Citibank.

The different types of transactions that are carried out by Citibank over the CHIPS
network are foreign trade payments, foreign exchange, securities settlement, and
Eurodollar transactions, as well as a growing number of domestic payments.

7 C's of Communication
Even though we have not paper output from Citibank in the appendix (regarding CHIPS),
we can imagine the sort of transaction that would be carried out and the type of
information that would be entered - such as Citibank code, receiver code, type of
transaction and the amount. Pretty much to the point, standardised and no emphasis on
goodwill. Thus an analysis of its 7 C's would be…

Completeness Every transaction is complete to necessary information. If some

information is missing, then the control mechanism will send it
back. Thus communication only takes place when the message is
complete.

Conciseness Since this is a computer generated request, there is no room for

verboseness and unnecessary materials. Only the essential
material is asked for in the request.

Consideration Simple straight forward communication with no purpose of

goodwill behind it. Thus there is no 'you' or 'we' attitude simply
because there is no space for it.

Concreteness Applicable only to the sense that specific facts and figures are
used (they are necessary). Otherwise no action in verbs etc.

Clarity The transactions are standardised so there is no risk of confusion

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 between sender and receiver.

Courtesy Again not applicable to EFT communications since there is no

purpose of goodwill behind it.

Correctness Very important since correct information has to be sent forward.

If mistakenly, incorrect information is sent forward, then CHIPS
will return it back to be corrected or not accept it. Another
control mechanism ensures that the sender checks his stored
transmission before approving it - thus providing more correct
communication.

SWIFT

CHIPS is the system to replace paper checks between inter-bank payments. There are
other correspondences as well that banks need to make such as those concerning
securities, trade services and treasury transactions. These can also be done in an EFT
format by using another service by the name of SWIFT. Citibank uses SWIFT
extensively to conduct cash management and treasury transactions.

SWIFT - Society for World-wide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunications - is a

private international electronic message transfer system for financial institutions. It is a
reliable, secure, high-speed, global telecommunications network owned by its bank
participants and used to transmit financial instructions in machine-readable formats
world-wide.

Facts and Figures

Some facts and figures for SWIFT are condensed below, the details are attached in the
relevant appendix.

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 No. of messages (Sep 99 ytd) 775,813,855

Live countries 189

Total Live users 6710

Top 2 routes - in millions of messages 1. B/w UK & US 32.6

2. B/w US & US 30.4

Most used services - in millions of messages 1. Payments 494.0

2. Securities 156.2

Broadly speaking, there are four services offered by SWIFT. They are payments, trade
services, treasury and securities.

Payments
In this category, the following services are offered to Citibank :
• Customer instructions
• Bank-to-bank instructions
• Advices, statements and reports associated with credit and debit transfers
• Clearing and settlement
• Risk management
Citibank also uses SWIFT for Euro transactions in the Euro Payment Clearing Systems.

Trade Services
SWIFT trade services include…
• Documentary credits and collections
• Risk management
These two services also extend to commercial trade documentation world-wide.

Treasury
Treasury is concerned with the management of funds especially forex funds. and using
SWIFT it can have…

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• Confirmation messaging
• Matching
• Bilateral and multilateral netting
• Risk management

Securities
Citibank uses SWIFT for securities dealings such as settlement, reporting of securities
confirmation and others.
• Trade confirmation
• Clearing and settlement
• Custodial operations
• Liquidity management
• Risk management

SWIFT is a standardised form of financial communication and uses two standards in its
transmissions. These are EDIFACT and ISO 15022. This is to ensure that all the
transactions can be processed easily and communication would be better.

EDIFACT stands for Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and
Transport. The introduction of the EDIFACT financial payments (multiple interbank
funds transfer) messages enables Citibank to handle structured commercial and financial
information on behalf of its corporate customers. Thus Citibank is able to support more
efficiently the back-office processes of their corporate customers. It also automates other
financial processes such as payables, receivables and cash management.

ISO 15022 is the standard issued by the ISO to regulate securities messaging. SWIFT
supports this standard in all its communications.

Advantages of SWIFT
As above (in CHIPS), SWIFT also is easier to handle, more cost efficient, time saving,
secure and provides almost no barriers to effective communication. The SWIFT system

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also has backups which can take over, if the main system crashes - thus providing
continuos communications. In the treasury services that it offers, SWIFT reduces
Citibank's foreign exchange exposure due to its netting and matching capabilities. Trade
services include the automated checking of documents along with their LCs. SWIFT also
provides Citibank with internal reporting - thus even helping Citibank in its internal
communications. The complete list is attached in the "SWIFT at a glance" file.

7 C's of Communication
The same sort of analysis would be applicable here as it was in CHIPS. Citibank will
choose the sort of transaction that it wants, enter in its code, the receiver's code and the
amount and any special instructions. The analysis of the 7 C's…

Completeness Every transaction is complete to necessary information. If some

information is missing, then the instruction will not be executed
and the sender can change it for effective communication.

Conciseness Since this is a computer generated instruction, there is no room

for unnecessary details and instructions. Thus Citibank's SWIFT
messages are concise and to the point.

Consideration Not applicable as there is intention to maintain goodwill.

Therefore no 'you' or 'we' attitude is used.

Concreteness Applicable only to the sense that specific facts and figures are
used (they are necessary). Otherwise no action in verbs etc.

Clarity The SWIFT system can read over 240 standards so there is no
risk of confusion between sender and receiver.

Courtesy Again not applicable to EFT communications since there is no

purpose of goodwill behind it.

Correctness Important since correct information has to be sent forward to

facilitate correct amount of payments. We assume that the

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 operators enter in the correct data - errors can be rectified due to
SWIFT's storing capabilities.

LETTERS

We have analysed three letters here. One is addressed to a fellow banker, one to the SBP
and one to the Ministry of Finance. They are all written differently keeping in mind the
various internal cultures and protocols.

Most of the letters follow a general pattern or layout – which is presented over here and
this layout is applicable to almost all letters sent from Citibank.

Layout of all the letters

Heading:
The letter does not follow a specified format. The heading - that is the letterhead and the
date are not in sync with the specified format of either the full block or the modified
block. The company address falls on the left hand side whereas the date is right aligned.

Inside address:
The inside address is left aligned and follows the standard format of the business
communication letters. No punctuation is used.

Salutation:
A comma is used after the salutation. The using of a comma after salutation is reflective
of the British standards of academic education prevalent in the subcontinent. This
accounts for cultural differences and is the norm despite Citibank being an American
bank.

Body:

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The body of the letters is based on the full block format. There is no paragraph
indentation. All letters are single lined spaced.

Complimentary Close:
Standard statements such as sincerely yours and very truly yours are used. Very truly
yours as highlighted by the book is reflective of the Asian culture.

Optional parts:
The subject line is placed below the salutation and is typed in the bold print. The subject
line is present in all communication dealing in either vertical communication (customer
companies) or horizontal communication (fellow banks, ministry of finance, etc.). It,
however is absent in company to employee correspondence.

Copy notation:
Copy notation is used at the end of the correspondence. “cc” used which means a carbon
copy has been sent to the concerned individuals.

Punctuation style:
Citibank follows a mixed punctuation style. In an analysis of letters obtained from the
company, we observed that some of them did not have any punctuation marks in the letter
other than the body with the presence of a comma after the salutation and the
complimentary close. Other letters revealed no particular style as the inside address was
punctuated but the salutation was not.

We now present the analysis of the three letters that are examples of Inter-Bank
Communication.

LETTER # 1 – ADDRESSED TO THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

This is correspondence with the government - a request for the reimbursement of telex
charges. Since they are dealing with red tape bureaucracy it is imperative that they

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follow the Bad News Plan. However the presence of the Subject Line is inconsistent
with the bad news plan.

Following the Bad News Plan, the letter starts off with a Buffer – by reference to past
correspondences regarding this subject. Then comes the Explanation, as to the different
work done by the two banks. This also includes Reader Benefit – by expressing the
service that Citibank is doing for GOP by promoting this method of home remittances
rather than the illegal ones. The third paragraph then gives more details and is a hint to
what the letter is asking for – as it lists down the various transactions and the telex
charges incurred therein. The fourth paragraph has more promotion and reader benefit in
it. The last paragraph finally asks for the intent of the letter – reimbursement of telex
charges and thus the Bad News is communicated at the end.

As far as the format of the letter is concerned it is Full Block (except for the right aligned
date) and uses Mixed Punctuation. There is a Subject Line for the reader’s ease and at
the end there is CC – indicating copies are also sent to various other people. Interesting to
note is that the CC includes the person’s title, which would put more pressure on the
junior officer to respond if his senior is already aware of such correspondence.

The 7 C’s …
Background information as well as sufficient facts and figures are given hence the letter
is Complete and Concrete. The letter also follows Correctness – as Citibank is asking
for reimbursement of charges and thus they have to accurate about such facts and figures.
The purpose of the letter requires it to be not too Concise and this is what it is. The
language and the purpose are very Clear (with help from subject line). Courtesy is
utmost since they are communicating to egomaniacs. Consideration is also present since
reader benefits are mentioned at the end.

LETTER # 2 – ADDRESSED TO THE SBP

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This is an Informative Letter – informs the SBP of recent development concerning a
programme called as the Home Remittance Service. It is addressed to the forex
department of the SBP. Since it is informative in nature, it follows the Direct Plan.

Following the direct plan, the Main News is given first in the form of the Subject Line.
Proper reference is eased by referring to other correspondences in the beginning. Note the
formality of language – this comes from the fact that this letter is addressed to the SBP –
a regulatory body. Then the Explanation is provided using various details. Finally the
letter ends with a Courteous Close, which reinforces the purpose of the letter as well as
selling the company.

The 7 C’s …
The letter is Complete as it provides all relevant information with proper references. It is
also Concise and Clear in language and purpose. The middle paragraph explains the
current conditions regarding the concerned subject (without unnecessary details). In this
respect, it is Correct and Concrete. Courtesy is maintained strictly since the letter is
addressed to a superior authority.

LETTER # 3 – ADDRESSED TO HABIB BANK LTD.

This letter is asking for two things – confirmation of a previous correspondence and
response/confirmation of a new request (inclusion of additional branches as regards the
Inland Banking Agreement between Citibank and HBL). Since this is a letter between
two companies (who are also partners), it follows the Direct Plan.

Following the direct plan, the Main News is given first in the form of the Subject Line
and the beginning of the letter. Then the Explanation is provided – the summary of the
previous letter is disclosed for Reader Benefit. Then the new request is stated. In this
respect, we could say that this letter follows the Bad News Plan, if the intention was to
ask for newer branches and the earlier parts were just a Buffer. Finally the letter ends

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with a Courteous Close and Direct Action (indicated in the words, ‘…await your earliest
possible confirmation…’) which reinforces the purpose of the letter as well as selling the
company and providing ample Reader Benefit.

Again the format of the letter is Full Block, with Mixed Punctuation, a Subject Line and
a Carbon Copy (CC). The date, however seems to be the exception.

The 7 C’s …
The letter is Concrete and Correct as a listing is given. Since the letter is addressing all
the issues, it is Complete yet also Concise with Clear language. Consideration is shown
in the end by mentioning the continuance of the banking agreement.

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 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

At Citibank external communication deals with that of company to customer, company to

prospective employees and goodwill building communication. Citibank, Global Finance
is a corporate bank, the customers of which are companies – media advertising for such is
forbidden by law. The consumer branch of Citibank extensively advertises through the
common media. Thus we have evaluated the promotional material as it relates to the
consumer bank. Company to prospective employee communication (done by HR
department) is that of job acceptance, job rejection and related letters. We also have
attached in the appendix a letter written to Mr. Fazle Hasan, Director IBA.

The main type of external communication that we have analysed are :-

1. Promotional Materials
2. Corporate Communication
3. Consumer Communication
4. HR Letters
5. Website
6. Interviews

PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

Among the many promotional messages that Citibank churns out we have decided to
analyse three current promotional schemes going around. These are Citibank Car
Financing, Citibank Home Loans and Citibank Credit Cards. Their analysis is as
follows (read with the relevant material attached in the appendix)…

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Citibank Car Financing

The first thing that strikes a consumer when he goes through one of these is the graphic
image and the brochure quality - both top class which goes to show the class and strength
of Citibank. The graphic of a stretch Toyota Corolla vividly supports their slogan "…
stretches your money to unbelievable limits!" This is an attractive and eye catching
opening using the rational appeal (use of 'you' attitude) - as it is offering them what is in
their interests. The first page has more of the 'you' attitude when the additional facilities
are offered to entice the customers.

A classic example of the AIDA approach can be found in this brochure. The Attention is
built up through the opening and the first paragraph on the next page. The Interest and
Desire is created by using emotional appeal - "drive …it away TODAY". Finally Action is
invoked by giving all the necessary information and more.

Overall the communication is very presentable, appealing, informative and designed with
the customer in mind and the various questions that he may have.

Citibank Home Loans - "Let your home finance your family's future"

Extremely well designed, this brochure again shows the class and status of Citibank as a
major financier. The opening uses the Emotional Appeal of a man and his family in a
secure surrounding - his home. This is the theme of this brochure and is repeated in the
inner pages as well. Again the AIDA approach is used. The Attention is created in the first
few lines "Your home can be more resourceful than you think." The Interest and Desire
are aroused not for choosing a service but Citibank's service - through giving information
on why to choose Citibank and Citibank's Home Loans. Other information is given and
then Action - on what to do now. Since this is a persuasive message to entice customers,
they are requested to send in the attached part to know more. Throughout this brochure,
Reader Benefit is heavily used (using Rational and Emotional Appeal) - what the reader
can get from this and how it is beneficial to him.

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Citibank Home Loans - "Turn you Dreams into Reality"

This is similar to the one discussed above except that these loan are for house purchases.
Thus the Attention is grabbed through the Emotional Appeal - the slogan "Turn you
Dreams into Reality" and a picture of a man with his family thus underlying their
subliminal message that Citibank's loan provide mental security. The Interest is built up
with the statements that mean that owning a home is no longer just a dream with Citibank
Home Loans. Statements, which sell the company, are included as in the previous
brochure. This creates a Desire in the customer to buy the Citibank Home Loans. Finally
Action is induced by including a detachable part that the customers can send in to get
more information. Again the communication is made more effective by using Reader
Benefit in the form of Rational and Emotional Appeal.

Both of the Home Loans ads shows that Citibank has done appropriate Audience
Analysis as their home ads target to the men who are more concerned about providing a
home for their family. All the brochures are very well designed, with eye-catching
graphics and quality colour and paper. They are thus very chic and presentable.

Citibank Credit Cards

Being another consumer product with many substitutes available in the market, Citibank
has to continuously sell this product to ensure its leadership status. Over here the main
types of promotional materials are the free offers and special privileges that Citibank
Credit Cards get to have. These promotional materials are usually mailed to the existing
card holders along with their account statements - showing effective Audience Analysis as
well as Effective Presentation (since it is personally given to those who will use it) - thus
effective communication. These types of communication - since they are persuasive in
nature (enticing people to use Citibank cards) - follow the AIDA approach. Attention is
grabbed by announcing the reader benefit (discounts), Interest and Desire are maintained
by giving information and finally Action is called for by putting down a deadline to that
promotion (so that people can go out and spend now). Most of the time the visual aids

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used in these promotions are very captivating and well designed - so that they appeal to
the aesthetic sense of the customer. These communications are also focused on the
Rational Appeal - giving the people want they want so that they act for their own self-
interests.

Attached in the appendix is a recent promotional ad – which shows the AIDA plan being
followed. Attention is grabbed through the image and the slogan (“…unbelievable
voyage”). Reader Interest and Desire are obtained through reporting low prices for
exotic vacations – inducing the reader for Action, which is provided in the last few lines
by urging them to apply for Citibank Visa Card today.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

These types of communication concerns communication with companies (letter attached)

and EFT communications such as PayLink and EasyPay.

LETTER – ADDRESSED TO SAPPHIRE TEXTILE MILLS

The letter is an example of Informative Correspondence with Process as Purpose. Being

an informative letter it follows the Direct Plan.

The letter begins with the Subject Line, which gives the reason for the letter. The first
sentence is a Thank You sentence where Citibank thanks Sapphire for using its products.
Reader Benefits are also mentioned by using the word “…tangible benefits…” Then
follows the Explanation of all necessary details – including Customer Reassurance /
Reader Benefit.

The next paragraph has the educational information regarding the Process Instructions of
the product. This is missing in the letter attached in the appendix due to its being
confidential information. Finally the letter ends with a Courteous Close.

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The 7 C’s of Communication…
The letter is Complete as it contains all pertinent information – actual process details,
reader benefit, resell material and reader concerns. The language used is Courteous and
since an effort has been made to answer any potential questions, the letter can be said to
quite Considerate. The presence of details in the reassurance and the process parts
ensures Concreteness and more Clarity. However the addition of all of the above, makes
robs the letter of Conciseness but we feel that it is not such a big loss in this case.

PAYLINK

PayLink is a system of EFT that customers can enter into. It enables the users of the
product to operate the company bank account without the hassle of physically going to
the bank. Since this is a vital and very sensitive issue, the product form is highly secure
against unauthorised users. The terminal of the user has an encryption device known as a
“Dongle” that accepts and detects the code in the transaction. Furthermore no transaction
can take place without the “Dongle”. Furthermore telephone correspondence is also
maintained. This helps in overcoming the initial resistance that corporations have against
the innovative banking activities.

EASYPAY

EasyPay is a service product that companies can utilise to their advantage. All telephone
bills of the user companies are sent to Citibank and then the company is notified. On
approval of the bills, the company account is debited. Further correspondence for
verification etc. is also carried.

Both of these forms of EFT reduce paper need for both companies and Citibank. They
have the same advantages and disadvantages that are mentioned in the section on EFT in
Inter-Bank communications. The same analysis of the 7 C’s also applies here.

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 CONSUMER COMMUNICATION

The various communication that the GCB carriers out range from account statements to
promotional materials. However due to their sensitive nature, we were unable to acquire
and analyse them. However, the Card Services department did give us one letter
regarding overdue balances on a customer account, which is analysed here.

LETTER ADDRESSED TO CREDIT CARD HOLDER

This letter is addressed to a member of a Citibank credit card and it refers to the unpaid
dues of the card holder. Being a bad news letter, it is surprisingly written in the Direct
Plan rather than the indirect plan.

The letter is indicative of previous correspondences that did exist between the sender and
the receiver as regards the same subject. The letter starts off by giving the Bad News first
– note that this is not what we have studied. Also the sender has used the word ‘regret’
which has negative connotations. The tone is not at all appropriate.

In the next paragraph, the tone changes to a more considerate level and Reader Benefits
are given in terms of the new millennium offers. Also the Persuasive Request is stated
much better here – by using appropriate words such as ‘…kindly request…’ and
providing reader benefits and resale material.

Following this is a note to disregard the letter in case of prior payment, which either
should have been placed in the beginning or at the end of the letter. The only strategic
planning in the placing of this line as we saw it was that it came after Reader Benefits and
thereby it was ensured that if effective Resale and Sales Promotion has been
accomplished. Finally Action is stated and help-line numbers are mentioned. Once again
a Courteous Close is present with appropriate resale.

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Analysis of the 7 C’s…
Overall the letter is Concise and Clear. However we feel that the opening statement
lacks Consideration and Courtesy and passes off as being too rude. This is however
adjusted in the middle paragraphs but the effects of the opening still persist. For someone
who has already mailed in his payment, there may be loss of goodwill through such an
ineffective opening. Correctness, Concreteness and Completeness are followed as the
exact overdue amount is given as well as necessary promotional material in vivid details.
Once again, something should be done about the opening to make it more Considerate.

HR LETTERS

Then Citibank also has external communication through its HR department which
communicates with prospective employees and interviews where the interviewer
communicates with the interviewee.

LETTER ADDRESSED TO MR. FAZLE HASSAN

This letter is addressed to the present director of IBA Mr. Fazle Hassan. The plan
followed is the AIDA plan since it is a Persuasive Request (asking for an association
programme to be set up).

The letter opens with an Agreeable Comment which draws the Attention of the reader.
The next paragraph deals with the building the Interest of the reader. The value
judgement word in this paragraph is ‘success’. The Desire is also built by making the
reader aware about the hiring probability of Citibank interns. Finally the Easy Action is
defined as request is stated in clear terms and information to reach the sender at the
specified contact number is provided.

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Analysis of the 7 C’s
This letter is Complete mostly (we say mostly as the time of the sender’s availability is
not given). It is also Concise, Courteous, Correct, Clear and finally Considerate as the
prospect of Citibank hiring IBA students is an inducing reader benefit.

GENERAL ASSOCIATION LETTER

This letter is very much similar to the last reviewed letter. Addressed generally it follows
the same pattern as the letter above.

Analysis of the 7 C’s

The letter is however, shorter and more Concise. The request is stated immediately after
the interest building paragraph. A courteous ending statement is also present however
further information is also attached with it. This letter is Complete, Concise, Courteous
and Clear. However Correctness is missing since there are some spelling mistakes such
as ‘Ext.’ spelled as ‘xt’

REJECTION LETTER

This is a job rejection letter and follows the Direct Plan. The letter is short. The first
sentence serves as a Buffer whereas the second sentence clearly discloses the Bad News.
Note the absence of words such as regret, sorry, unfortunately etc. Goodwill is built by
stating the prospect of future employment, indicated by retention of CV in the files. This
is the Bad News Plan in which the reason for rejection is left out entirely.

Analysis of the 7 C’s

This letter is Clear and Courteous (as appropriate language is used). However it should
not be this Concise – especially when it is a bad news letter. Also Concreteness,
Completeness and Consideration are missing since the good qualities of the receiver are
not mentioned (as we have studied in the text-book).

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LETTER EXPRESSING INTEREST

This letter is a follow up letter and is sent when an interview is to be called and the
person addressed cannot be reached. That is why it is stated in terms of the Direct Plan. It
opens with a Warm Greeting acknowledging the delivery of the CV. Then the Main
Point of the letter is stated. Finally the letter ends with appropriate contact numbers and
names.

Analysis of the 7 C’s

It is such a small letter that Completeness, Concreteness are missing out – there are no
details as to why they want to contact the said person. It is too Concise, which is not
good. However the language is Considerate.

CERTIFICATION LETTER

This is a certifying letter (acknowledging an internee) and follows the Direct Plan. The
first sentence gives the News or Information directly. The second sentence explains the
working activity of the intern during the internship period. Finally the intern is praised
and the letter ends with a warm, cordial greeting.

Analysis of the 7 C’s

The letter is just to acknowledge that the intern worked at Citibank and hence it has to be
and is Concise. It also has Consideration since the internee is praised. Correctness and
Completeness is achieved by mentioning the various departments worked in and the total
period of the internship. Finally the language makes the purpose of the letter very Clear.

LETTER ADDRESSED TO A JOINING INTERNEE

This is an extensive Informative Letter with Policy as Purpose and following the Topical
Organisation pattern. The letters states the terms and conditions, and other necessary
details of the internship programme. Hence the letter follows the Direct Plan.

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It begins with accepting the intern for the internship (thus the Good News is given
directly), and then moves on to all the necessary information and details that must be
known to an internee before he/she joins Citibank. The letter ends with the reader being
made aware of the Desired Action.

Analysis of the 7 C’s

The letter is definitely Complete and Concrete as all facts and explanations and other
necessary details are presented for the reader. The language and the tone makes the letter
very Clear (“Please note…only on temporary basis…no obligation…regular basis”).
The letter is also very Courteous as it tactfully explains the relevant terms and conditions
of the internship. Since it is an informative letter, it does not focus on Consideration.

WEBSITE

Citibank maintains an extensive website that can be accessed at

www.citibank.com/pakistan. This website, according to a Citibank source, is one of the
most accessed Pakistani banking websites having, on average, more than 300 hits per
day. With the potential for such a large audience, it is imperative that Citibank can
communicate well over the net. Not much is available to analyse here but the services &
products part – as attached in the appendix – were the only relevant information that we
could find on their website. Thus Completeness is missing since they need to add more
information such as details about the company etc.

Citibank offers various products (details attached). It must be mentioned that the fonts,
colours and graphics used are excellent and very captivating. All of the service pages
follow the AIDA approach – they grab the Attention through the captivating images and
opening sentences, build Interest (by giving all information) and finally call for Action
by giving contact numbers for easy access.

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In all the pages, Reader Benefits stick out – a good point which shows Consideration
and plenty of details give it Concreteness as well.

INTERVIEWS

At many times, department vice presidents take interviews of prospective employees. To

maintain goodwill and at the same time to get the best possible employee, Citibank needs
to have an effective interviewing process. We have already analysed the response that
these interviewers give to the HR department but over here we will be analysing the
Interviewer – Interviewee communication. This is facilitated through an Assessment
Interview Guide – the analysis of which is present below.

THE ASSESSMENT INTERVIEW GUIDE

This is made by HR and given to the interviewers. Hence it should follow some of the 7
C’s – it is Complete, Correct, Concrete (evaluation criteria given) and Clear.

1. Introduction
The introduction is to last for three to five minutes. This is also known as the warm-up
period for the interview. The interviewer should…
- Create a relaxed atmosphere
- Open with something non-controversial like geography, company information or
personal hobbies. Note that this contrasts our textbook, which says that hobbies are
personal and can be biased - thus leave them out initially.

The standard opening statement of the interview is

Statement 1 - "At Citibank, we believe that the more we can learn about you, the better
able we will be to help you with your long range career direction. So
today, I’d like to have you tell me everything that you can about your work
experience, career education and training and outside interest."

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There is also emphasis on the Value Judgement words as well as Fact Judgement
words. Furthermore, they also show the use of the Aristotelian measures of ethos, pathos
and logos.

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

These words show Courtesy and Consideration for the interviewee (better able to help
you), they are also Complete since they discuss all the major aspects of the interview.
The statement, when spoken out, is Concise, the language used is very simple yet Clear.

2. Work History
Citibank follows the PAL - Porch, Aim, Layout - method. The first statement serves as
their Porch, "At Citibank…career direction." This is a warm and sincere greeting. The
next sentence enlarges upon the aim of the interview, "So today, I'd like to have you…
training and outside interests." Statement 2 then goes on to give the layout of the job
interview, "Suppose you begin by…work in high school." The statement sets an agenda
and a road map as to what the interview will cover.

Statement 2 - "Suppose you begin by telling me about your work experience, starting with
the first job and moving up to the present. I would be interested in how you
got each job, your duties and responsibilities, your likes and dislikes on
each job, your level of earnings and any special accomplishments along
the way. Where do we start…did you work in high school?"

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

The tone of voice & the words would express Consideration (put the interviewee at
ease), however the statement is not Concise nor Clear for the interviewee because it
contains multiple open-ended questions in it (difficult to remember) but this is what the
purpose of the interview is. The question is Complete as it asking for all the information.
The words do not show Concreteness but it can be achieved through proper tone of
voice.

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3. Self-Evaluation
The interviewee is asked for self evaluation by…

Statement 3 - "Looking back, what do you…just what?"

In such cases, value judgement is the mode of evaluation and looking at statement 3, the
value words are underlined. An important aspect of value judgement is a person's self
perception. Citibank checks a person's self perception through the following statement…

Statement 4 - "How about clues to your development needs…to become firmer with
people - just what?"

The above is a comprehensive statement about the applicant's self perception. It buffers
the negative points by saying, "As you know, we all…make better progress.” The bridge
therefore mitigates the possible negative emotions as much as possible.

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

Statements 3 & 4 have sufficient examples to be Concrete, they both are Complete but
the presence of examples eliminates the Conciseness aspect. The proper tone of voice
can show Consideration or the lack of it. The two statements each address one issue and
hence Clarity is present.

4. Career
The interviewer then moves on to the career aspirations of the interviewer by asking
him…

Statement 5 - "How about your career; what do you see as your next move…five years?"

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

The statement is Concise as it comes straight to the point, Complete as it limits the
answer to the career goals. It is also Clear.

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5. Job Satisfaction

Statement 6 - "Thinking back to the jobs…what is important to you?"

The value characteristics as given in the text book regarding this section are as follows -
altruism, prestige, adventure, association, money, power etc. Citibank's standard
statement reveals the search for the values of money, security, management, creativity,
and attention to detail. Then there are other characteristics that the interviewer looks to in
this section which are outlined in the box in the assessment guide. Aspects such as
Power, Influence, Business Involvement are all indicators of the interviewee's job
satisfaction.

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

Statement 6 has sufficient examples to be Concrete, Complete and Clear. However as
with statements 3 & 4, the presence of examples eliminates the Conciseness. The
presence of examples helps the interviewee to answer accordingly and hence can be said
to be Considerate.

6. Education and Training

This part of the interview is started off as follows…

Statement 7 - "That gives me a good picture…like best in high school?"

Questions may or may not be asked on this but the interviewers also like to evaluate the
leadership abilities of the interviewee as shown by the presence of Leadership Roles as
one of the evaluation criteria. Hence interviewers are urged to talk about their leadership
roles.

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

The starting of the statement reinforces the interviewee – Consideration. There are a
number of different questions asked about each level of education thus there may be
some problems on Conciseness and Clarity. At the same time, these different questions

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tell the interviewee exactly what he has to answer – the statement becomes Concrete for
him.

7. Outside Interests

Statement 8 - "How about your spare time…interests and hobbies?"

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

The words and the appropriate tone shows Consideration, the examples make it
Concrete and Clear to understand and the question is very Concise.

8. Closing
The standard statement for the close is…

Statement 8 - "That gives me an excellent picture…with your future."

The interviewer starts off with a positive note to boost the confidence of the interviewee
and give him adequate assurance. In the close, the interviewer also discusses the job and
the organisation and sells both to the interviewer - this contrasts with the text book which
does this in the beginning. Promises about anything are strictly avoided as usual. Then
the interviewer closes the interview with a warm and friendly greeting by wishing the
candidate success for the future.

The analysis of the 7 C’s…

As said before this is full of Courtesy and Consideration, the naming of the strengths
also makes this Concrete and Clear. However, we believe that it lacks Completeness
since the interviewee is not told anything about when he might know of a decision. Also
the statement comes off as too Concise – it would be better to lengthen this close a little
bit perhaps by more reassurance.

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 CONCLUSION

Well there she is – all done and not a moment too soon.

We hope that you like it !!!!

Citibank follows a comprehensive internal communication

system that is based on the very latest communication
technologies – Intranets. On the average, their external
communication is also very excellent save for some
scenarios which we have explained in the report. I must
single out their promotional materials as being the best
there is.

One area where they could do really well is to standardise

their letters so that they all follow the same pattern – e.g.
data aligned on the right, subject line written as Subject line
etc. There is much variation in this regard. However this
could be attributed to the internal culture at Citibank (open,
relaxed and quite informal).

Overall they have done a very fine job at effective

communication to be incorporated into their business.

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