CITIC Bank Officially Recognizes “the Choice of Infinite”
Boosted Premium Card Issuance and Achieved a 65% Activation Rate Within 30 Days
At CITIC Bank's National Annual Conference held in January 2018, the "Choice of Infinite" project — created, led, and curated by Angelina Saiyi Li, Founder of LYRRA — was officially recognized as one of the most strategic and innovative initiatives of the year. The project received special mention in the official summary report, highlighting its pioneering impact on the bank’s premium credit card brand strategy.
According to the official statement from CITIC Bank Credit Card Center, "In May 2017, CITIC Bank Credit Card Center, in collaboration with VISA and Microsoft Bing, jointly launched the world's first-ever restaurant guide powered by big data — The Choice of Infinite 2017 China Restaurant Guide—marked by a grand debut event."
The project not only achieved a breakthrough integration between financial services, cultural content, and data technology but also significantly enhanced the premium brand image and customer loyalty for CITIC’s high-end credit card segment.
The bank further emphasized, "Through the guide and a series of curated high-end lifestyle events, we significantly strengthened the brand image of our premium credit cards and deepened client engagement with the Credit Card Center." In terms of tangible results, the report noted that as of December 31, 2017, the total number of top-tier cards reached 3,564, with 775 new cards issued during the year. More impressively, the 30-day activation rate soared to 65%, while the average transaction per client hit 56,155 RMB — far surpassing previous benchmarks.
CITIC Bank’s summary defined the "Choice of Infinite" brand as “an industry first,” “the first self-registered exclusive brand for premium credit cards,” and “a key driver in the independent and international evolution of CITIC Bank’s premium credit card strategy.” This designation not only reflects the pioneering role of the project but also formally acknowledges Angelina Saiyi Li’s outstanding leadership in content architecture, brand narrative, system design, and client experience innovation across financial and cultural domains.
As the sole creator and symbolic architect of the project, Angelina Saiyi Li orchestrated a multi-party collaboration involving Microsoft Bing, VISA International, and CITIC Bank. She pioneered the integration of AI-powered data analytics with cultural narrative systems, creating the world's first commercially published, algorithmically curated restaurant guide. By fusing behavioral data with symbolic system design, the project successfully challenged the traditional model of subjective restaurant ratings and instead established a data-driven, culturally intelligent method for defining high-end lifestyle experiences.
The success of "Choice of Infinite" not only laid the foundation for CITIC Bank’s high-end credit card ecosystem but also demonstrated the profound impact of narrative-driven, data-empowered brand construction in the era of intelligent consumer ecosystems.
Looking ahead, LYRRA remains committed to empowering global brands with cross-disciplinary strategies, helping to reframe cultural narratives and build new frameworks of influence in the evolving global order.
