The Role of Digitalization in Optimizing International Strategies of Banking Sector Companies (by the Case of Sberbank and Citi Bank)

This article examines the effects of digital transformation on the activities of international banks. The author investigates the role of the technological factor in the modern banking sector. The purpose of this article is to determine the role of digitalization in the operations of international enterprises of the banking sector, to establish the most effective and successful strategies of digital transformation and to identify the quantitative and qualitative effects of the introduction of new technologies by banks. To accomplish these tasks, the most successful and largest banks from Russia – Sberbank and from the United States – Citibank (Citibank) will be analyzed and their digitalization strategies will be compared. Based on the analysis and comparison, the article concludes that the priority directions of digital transformation are the development of digital communication channels, the introduction of artificial intelligence, robotization of processes and the development of innovative systems for analysis and storage of data. The key effects of digitalization were identified as: improving the quality of service, increasing customer loyalty, reducing operating costs, increasing profitability and net profit. Also, the factors that prevent obtaining the maximum benefit from digitalization are a greater degree of distribution of the Bank's customers by different countries, presence in poorly developed regions, as well as a high level of competition.