Banking giant Citigroup is planning to save more than $1bn this
year by integrating separate IT systems.
Citigroup has acquired many businesses over the years, and has a
significant overlap in IT systems as a result.
According to the Financial Times, the company has increased its
targeted savings related to IT integration after it began the
streamlining process.
Sources quoted in the Financial Times said its savings targets
are multiples of $1bn.
The US bank has already said it will
cut some 50,000 jobs across all geographies in the near future
to cut costs.
PJ Di Giammarino, CEO at financial services think tank JWG-IT,
said consolidating IT at Citigroup is a huge undertaking and to
make such massive savings a significant IT refresh would be
required.
"Any large bank that has grown by acquisition has disparate
systems and there is an opportunity to rationalise and consolidate
IT systems. Citi is a very big bank and its operations are data and
technology intensive."
He added that getting rid of legacy systems is difficult.