When Citi announced it was exiting from consumer banking in 13 developing markets, it was both a surprise as well as a bellwether for the global banking industry. The poster child of the large traditional banking system was pulling back from international retail banking! The news grabbed headlines across the world laying out the obligatory rationale that the decision was made because the bank lacked the “scale to compete,” and wanted to focus on “higher returning opportunities in wealth management.” The same, but in reverse, happened with HSBC, which pulled out of the US focusing only on wealth management customers with minimum balances of $75,000