Citibank is trying out a new way of doing business with its retail customers, by changing the layout and service style at its newest branch located at Woodlands MRT Station.

Each customer at the full-service branch will be served by a single bank employee from arrival to completion of the transaction, Citibank said on Wednesday.

This is different from the traditional branch service model, where a customer has to deal with a variety of staff at different stages of his transaction, ranging from the greeter to the bank teller.

Citibank says the new service model will allow for better interaction with each customer.

The Woodlands branch is also smaller than usual: at just 1,700 square ft in size, it occupies about 60 per cent of the space of a normal-sized full-service branch. The more efficient use of space is owing to improvements in technology that allow staff to share cash teller machines, the bank said.

Customers also do not have to wait in long lines during peak hours, as they can be informed via SMS when it is their turn to be served, allowing them to go shopping or dining in the meantime.

Citibank Singapore chief executive Han Kwee Juan said: "Customers on the go now want to also be able to enjoy full-banking services delivered on a much deeper level of engagement. Our Woodlands SMRT branch will serve as the branch service model of the future and set the tone for Citibank's new branches going forward."

Probed about the expansion plans for the bank and where other branches may be set up, Mr Han declined to give specifics, saying only that much depends on the concentration of customers living in a particular area.

But one possible region could be the area spanning Pasir Ris and Sembawang.

"If you look at the northeast, it looks interesting. That's something that clearly when we look at branches that we have, that is a spot that we don't have a presence in," said Mr Han.