Even though Citigroup (NYSE:C) overall has been a disaster during the economic crisis, with many of its underlying weaknesses exposed, that hasn’t been the case in its Philippines operations, where they have continue to perform strongly during those difficult times, and now are looking to add another 1,000 workers to its business there as expansion efforts are initiated in the country.

The new hires will be primarily for the consumer banking and the outsourcing of business processes.

At this time Citibank has approximately 4,500 people working in the Philippines market for them. One of the fastest growing divisions there last year was its global shared services unit which grew by about 20 percent in 2009, according to Citibank Philippines chief executive officer Sanjiv Vohra.

Vohra added that most of the new people being hired will be for the core businesses, specifically its consumer banking segment.

The reason for having to hire that many people is the nature of consumer banking itself, which required a lot more hand-holding and customer service, versus the business side of it which requires far less time for its customers.

In preparation for this deeper foray into consumer markets, Citibank acquired Insular Savings Bank in 2005, which it re-branded as CitiSavings, which serves as its thrift banking division. Over the last several years they worked on solidifying those acquisitions and this year the period of re-branding should be completed and focus on using them as a base for expansion in the consumer market ready to continue, as there will have 36 operating branches by March 2010.

Vohra says that the acquisition of Insular Savings Banks and re-branding it as CitiSavings was the best investment the giant bank made in the Philippines over the last decade.
  
Last week Citibank launched its latest product, a wealth platform called Citigold Wealth which caters to people with a high net worth who require customized and personalized services for their finances.

While Vohra said if the Philippine economy performs stronger this year Citibank is positioned to take advantage of that, even if it doesn’t, over the long term he believes consumer banking division has a solid future in the country and investing in the sector by adding employees and investing in the relevant technology will pay off for years ahead for them.