Citi eats Egg? Citibank, from America, is the largest bank in the world. Is Citi the saviour of the unique brand of Egg or will they be the tough business managers that stop the losses? Rumour has it that the staff at Egg found out about the takeover by Citi by seeing it on Google – oops, maybe this internet malarkey isn't all it's cracked up to be! Even so, Citi could be the saviours. Prudential, the former owners, had originally forecast losses of £40m for 2006 and have now come clean and admitted full year losses of £145m! Ouch.

As regular users of moneysupermarket.com will be aware, Citibank has been offering credit cards and current accounts for quite some time in the UK (see our Egg vs Citi card comparison below). However, it has always felt to me like they were 'dabbling' rather than having a serious punt at UK consumers. Obviously that has changed now because, despite its problems, Egg is still an incredibly powerful brand.

How do the cards shape up?
 

0% on balance transfers for nine months    2.5% balance transfer fee 0% on new purchases for six months 16.9% APR 0% for up to five months on balance transfers in 2008 and 2009	0% on balance transfers for 12 months 3% balance transfer fee 0% on new purchases for three months 16.9% APR

Citi offers a current account – which presently isn't part of Egg's suit of products - while Egg offers savings and mortgages. 

This could be good news for consumers with Citi having the financial muscle and clout to really take on the big five banks – Lloyds; HSBC; Barclays; RBS and HBoS but Egg has built a quirky, consumer friendly brand and I can't help wondering if the Americans will be able to bring Egg to profit without changing the Egg ethos. One to watch with interest…

Links:

Citi
Egg

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