Citi officials want to be where their customers are and, today, that is very often through digital engagement.
On Jan. 27, 2017, U.S. Citi credit card members began scanning their cards using their mobile devices’ cameras when activating on the Citi Mobile App. Once scanned, the card account number will populate within the registration, which serves to streamline the process. Citi is the only major U.S. credit card issuer to offer the ability for cardmembers to scan both embossed and non-embossed credit cards within a mobile app.
Citi officials believe that with more customer logins occurring through the app than through a browser, they can find creative solutions to make customers’ lives simpler.
Once the card account number is scanned, cardmembers will only need to input their CVV, date of birth, and last four digits of their SSN to activate their card. The feature is available within the Citi Mobile App for iPhone and Android.
Citi spokesperson Jennifer Bombardier told Loyalty360 that company officials are using new optical character recognition technology that enables them to scan both embossed and non-embossed credit cards.
“Citi is committed to meeting customers where they are in their digital lives,” Bombardier explained. “Increasingly, our customers are interacting with us through the Citi Mobile App and we want to ensure this process is as streamlined as possible. As such, adding this feature was a no-brainer. We hope that such a feature will encourage more customers to leverage all of the time-saving and innovative tools that the Citi Mobile App has to offer, including Citi Quick Lock and the Dispute a Charge function.”
The launch follows the introduction of a series of new, innovative enhancements to the Citi Mobile App, including Citi Quick Lock, which is a new functionality that enables Citi customers to lock their accounts with a simple tap or click within Citi Online or the Citi Mobile App. The Citi Quick Lock feature helps ensure that no unauthorized charges are made while a card is misplaced and upon locating a misplaced card, Citi customers can simply unlock their accounts just as easily. Citi also recently introduced the ability to dispute certain credit card charges, view or download PDF statements, as well as track the steps of their replacement credit card delivery in real-time within the Citi Mobile App.
Citi has about 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions.