Citi’s Mike Naggar, chief digital officer and chief information officer for U.S. Personal Banking, focuses on customer experience at the $2 trillion bank.

Naggar has worked at Citi since 2018, initially holding the title of chief digital officer before assuming the additional role of chief information officer in 2023. Prior to joining Citi, Naggar served as managing director and head of mobile and emerging payment solutions at $3.9 trillion JPMorgan Chase. He also worked at $2 trillion Barclays as managing director for mobile payments and as executive director of consumer product development at Verizon before entering the financial services sector, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Citi in 2024 spent $11.8 billion on tech investments on digital innovation and cybersecurity, and is upping its AI initiatives with the recent launch of three gen AI-driven productivity tools to 150,000 employees.

The technology goals in Citi’s U.S. Personal Banking (USPB) division “center around improving the client experience, risk and controls and efficiency,” Naggar told Bank Automation News, adding that he’s motivated by empathy toward customers and colleagues.

“It is important for me to understand my teams’ and our clients’ pain points and find ways to tackle them head on,” Naggar said.

Citi’s 2025 plans for enhancing its digital banking capabilities and launching new products keep increased accessibility in mind, he said in a recent interview. What follows is an edited version of that conversation.

Bank Automation News: What are Citi’s technology goals for 2025, and how is the bank using technology to simplify operations and improve CX?

Mike Naggar: With digital, we are focused on assisting our clients with accessing our products so we can meet them where they need us; helping them use our products and creating a great overall experience, and ensuring the ecosystem is stable and reliable for them.

For example, we’ve been enhancing digital channel availability and efficiency through initiatives like WayFinder, a predictive solution in the Citi mobile app that helps customers find what they need more quickly.

BAN: What are retail clients asking for? Are there any new products in the pipeline to meet client demand?

MN: Retail banking clients are seeking ease of use, omnichannel accessibility and great customer service, so digital banking is more important than ever.

We’ve been making enhancements to WayFinder to help them more easily navigate mobile payments, and we are looking to streamline the onboarding experience for new cardholders, as well, to minimize their pain points.

For example, our teams are expanding instant authorization enhancements and access to temporary digital cards to different cards portfolios in the coming months. We also launched Conversational UI, a new experience optimized for mobile that creates a step-by-step application process rather than a long one-page scrolling form, for cards customers last year, and will further expand it this quarter. Lastly, we are improving our chatbots to improve servicing, increase security, reduce response time and improve handoffs to customer agents.

BAN: Citi has cited multiple reports projecting 2025 to be a big year for data generation in the financial services sector. How is Citi staying ahead of customer data needs?

MN: Technology is only as powerful as the data behind it, including gen AI tools. Having a centralized view of our clients is critical in improving their user experience and strengthening preventative controls we have in place.

We are currently bringing together all of the data points, experiences and interactions, both analog and digital, into a single location so we can learn from that 360-degree view of our customers and deliver a personalized, immersive and powerful experience to them. We also partner with our analytics teams to ensure we have accurate sources of data, streamline metrics reporting, and develop dashboards to track and proactively act on customer insights.

BAN: How is digital banking at Citi evolving?

MN: With digital, we are focused on increasing channel availability, user experience efficiency and customer satisfaction. We do this by focusing on three areas: customer engagement with the enhancements we’ve made to digital banking touchpoints; our new products; and experiences. Last year, for example, we introduced a payment flow for Citi Retail Services customers that does not require login to make payments.

We want to meet our customers where they need us, so we’ve been collaborating with partners to be there. We enabled prequalification and pre-screen offers for American Airlines products on AA.com — which was a first for Citi on a partner site — making it simpler for travelers to access our products. Speaking of travel, we also launched Flex Pay in Citi Travel Portal last fall, which gives cardmembers the flexibility to split up purchases when checking out on the portal, increasing convenience and accessibility when booking their next getaways.

We have also worked on evolving the single card customer experience by simplifying the dashboard and providing easier access to rewards and benefits. For example, customers can see their FICO score on a tile with zero clicks, and have easier access to the Deals & Discounts hub for merchant offers. Quick actions and tiles were redesigned to reduce clicks and help users better understand functions.

We continue to improve experiences that help our customers save, shop and plan for key life milestones and goals.

BAN: Aside from leading with empathy, how would you describe your leadership style?

MN: I also believe in strong collaboration with our business partners to ensure we, as a technology team, are driving value for them but also driving business change through technology. I’m always taking a step back to think how can I help merge my business and technology experience to unlock business value in ways only innovative technology solutions can.

My career started at Verizon as a developer where I had patents on embedded controllers in software systems, and that is where I found my love for product development. Then, a mentor brought me into banking, where I worked on digital experiences and emerging platforms. My career has shaped my perspectives and leadership style around partnering to integrate digital customer experiences, technology, and business.

Given my background, I also think it is crucial to celebrate innovation, and one of my favorite events in technology involves our teams demoing the latest product launches and enhancements.

Register here for Bank Automation Summit 2025, taking place March 3-4 in Nashville, Tenn. View the full event agenda here.