Citigroup Inc, the world's biggest financial service company, teamed up with 7-Eleven licensee Guang Dong Sai Yi Convenience Stores Ltd to install ATMs in select convenience stores in southern China as the first foreign bank to sign such a deal.

Sai Yi has about 250 7-Eleven stores in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai in the Pearl River Delta area.

The 7-Eleven deal is Citigroup's "investment in the future," said Raymond Lim, vice president of regional business development for the Asia-Pacific region.

"With the environment changing, our ATM strategy changes," he noted. "We are under discussions with others to add such investments."

The ATMs are seen as a key link between the bank and its potential Chinese clients when the country allows overseas banks to offer yuan services to Chinese, he added.

Citigroup, the first to deploy foreign-card ATMs in China, now has 55 ATMs here, and the figure is expected to grow to 85 at the end of this year.

Overseas banks are also gearing for the year-end business expansion.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp added 20 ATMs in China this year, giving it 56 in 13 major cities. Most of the facilities are in five-star hotels, airports and major shops.

"HSBC is talking with more merchants and hotels to expand its ATMs network, and more facilities are expected to open soon," HSBC said in an e-mailed reply yesterday, adding that an accelerated growth is expected.

Standard Chartered Bank, which has no ATMs in China at present, is seeking opportunities to set up a network in the fourth quarter this year, the bank said yesterday.

The foreign banks see great potential in the market opening in China, whose citizens have amassed US$1.9 trillion in personal savings.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)