Citizens Bank has opened a new Global Capability Centre in Hyderabad as part of its plan to expand its global technology presence and accelerate digital transformation. The bank says this new centre will help strengthen access to skilled talent and support faster development cycles.
Michael Rutledge, Chief Information Officer and Head of Technology Services at Citizens Financial Group, said the decision reflects the growing need for specialised technical skills. He explained, “The move is driven by an urgent need for speed and talent that local markets alone cannot satisfy. We want a truly global workforce that enables 24/7 development.”
Rutledge noted that financial institutions today must innovate quickly as they now compete not only with other banks but also with fintech companies. He said the new centre will help the bank build capabilities and develop skill sets that may not be available in every local market.
Hyderabad was selected for its strong technology ecosystem and talent pipeline. Rutledge highlighted that the city has access to over 40 colleges which supports hiring fresh graduates.
Earlier this year, Citizens Bank partnered with Cognizant to establish the centre under a Build Operate Transfer model at Cognizant’s GAR facility. The centre focuses on advanced technologies including artificial intelligence cloud computing cybersecurity and automation.
So far more than 300 professionals have been hired in Hyderabad across areas such as mobile engineering software development data engineering and data science. The bank plans to expand the team to around 1,000 employees by April 2026 through its ongoing collaboration with Cognizant.
The Hyderabad centre is involved in several major projects linked to the bank’s digital modernisation efforts. Rutledge shared that teams in India are developing APIs for middleware systems as part of mainframe modernisation and have begun mobile development outside the United States for the first time.
Projects underway include a new mobile banking platform a cloud based account opening system and support for the bank’s AWS based data environment. The centre will also contribute to functions such as payment processing commercial banking platforms Salesforce systems and risk and finance platforms.
In addition to technology development Citizens Bank will take part in community programmes through Cognizant’s Outreach initiative to support education and career opportunities for girls from rural and underprivileged backgrounds.
Rutledge said the new centre is a long term investment in innovation and workforce development. He added, “Significant development will take place here.”
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