In India, the central bank tightly regulates the number of branch bank licenses awarded to foreign banks, effectively limiting their ability to grow traditional consumer operations. But for Citigroup (NYSE: C) anyway, there is a way around such regulations: Mobile banking.

While mobile banking is taking off relatively slowly in the U.S., it is much more of a hit in some overseas markets. Citigroup is now targeting India's nearly 600 million mobile phone users, according to the Financial Times. The move follows a test in Bangalore that featured NFC chips in Nokia phones.

Citigroup actually subsidized consumer purchases of phones. Customers just had to link a Citigroup card to the phone and make 12 purchases to receive the full rebates. Active participants boosted their spending via their Citigroup accounts by 300 percent over the course of the trial. Even the not-so-active participants spent 75 percent to 100 percent more.

The bank may roll this out to a wider audience, but you have to wonder if the bank will also market core consumer banking via phones. That would appear to be an opportunity as well. These are not the only moves to boost consumer operations. More ATMs are being installed. 

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