InformationWeek

May 3, 1999

Mass-Market Approach

By Bob Violino and Clinton Wilder

d Horowitz, who heads up Citigroup's e-Citi division, which is responsible for creating new E-commerce and electronic-banking services, isn't your typical banker or technology manager.

Horowitz came to Citigroup, which was then Citicorp, in January 1997, in a high-profile move from Viacom Interactive Media, where he was chairman and CEO. Horowitz was also VP of technology for parent Viacom Corp. Before working at Viacom, he held senior management posts at Time Warner's Home Box Office division.

Not surprisingly, given his background in the entertainment and cable businesses, Horowitz views Citigroup as a media company with financial services as its content.

"We have to figure out how to tell the story in the electronic world, and the story is about financial products and services," he says. "We want people to be comfortable buying these services online."

The mass-market approach, which also involves distributing financial services via TV set-top boxes, cell phones, and automated teller machines placed in hundreds of Blockbuster and Kinko's stores nationwide, fits with Citigroup's goal of capturing a massive customer base for its services.

In his keynote speech at last week's Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference & Exposition in New York, Horowitz emphasized the importance of a compelling

Internet presence. "Content is what will determine long-term Internet profitability," he said. "To focus on technology without content is like building a hospital without the nurses and doctors."

Return to main story, "Banking On E-Business."