Citizens Financial Expands to India with Hyderabad GCC in Partnership with Cognizant

US-based financial institution Citizens Financial Group on Tuesday announced the launch of its first global capability centre (GCC) in India, choosing Hyderabad as its base. The centre is being established in partnership with Cognizant.

The new Hyderabad facility aims to become an innovation hub focused on IT, data, and analytics, and is expected to grow to 1,000 professionals by March 2026. The centre will play a key role in Citizens Financial’s digital and tech transformation.

“Our partnership with Cognizant on the establishment of a GCC in Hyderabad is core to our strategy to scale digital transformation, strengthen innovation capabilities, reduce reliance on vendor partners, and improve time to market for new-age banking products,” Michael Ruttledge, chief information officer at Citizens Financial Group, said.

Hyderabad now hosts over 350 GCCs, with BFSI players like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo already operating major centres in the city.

“Citizens Financial Group now joins this distinguished list,” Nageswar Cherukupalli, SVP & BU head (BFSI) at Cognizant, said. 

Cognizant currently employs nearly 57,000 people in Hyderabad, making it one of the city's largest tech employers. The firm also plans to set up a Banking and Financial Services Innovation Center in the city.

“We plan to leverage our Neuro and Flowsource platforms to help advance modern banking with future-ready, AI-powered solutions,” Surya Gummadi, president – Americas, Cognizant, said.

The Citizens-Cognizant collaboration is being backed by the Telangana state government.Meanwhile, Vanguard Group, one of the largest financial management MNCs, has announced the establishment of its GCC in Hyderabad, marking the company’s first facility in India. Vanguard Group plans to scale the facility to over 2,300 employees in the coming years, significantly contributing to the region’s growing tech ecosystem.