About 1,600 consumer banking employees from Citibank Singapore are undergoing training in areas, such as customer journey design and cyber security, which have become increasingly important for banking professionals.

By launching this series of multi-functional, future-compatible skills-based training, Citibank is the first bank in Singapore to alignits training with the Institute of Banking and Finance's (IBF) standards for consumer banking.

The standards were designed to ensure that training will equip staff with cross-functional skills and digital capabilities needed to stay relevant as business models and jobs evolve.

These core consumer banking skills will give employees a foundational knowledge of the consumer banking business and expand on their ability to meet customers' evolving needs.

The bank aims to have all staff complete the full suite of courses under areas such as product suitability, asset liability management, and fraud detection and prevention within two years. New employees will also be required to complete the IBF training upon being confirmed in their roles.

Citibank Singapore chief executive Han Kwee Juan said: "New technology and accessibility to data are enabling businesses to develop new products and services more efficiently. At Citi, we constantly harness our digital capabilities to make banking relevant, convenient and remarkable."

The bank will progressively roll out more training courses that will address 13 other consumer banking skills this year and over the next year.

This also builds upon the bank's efforts last year in boosting training standards by accrediting the new-hire training for retail bank sales employees.