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A new world of client services is on the horizon for banking clients Sandra Peterson, Global Head Client Service Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi Institutional banking clients make no secret about it: they want their banks to deliver service that is fast, easy, and accurate. Even more, they demand support 24X7, as they have come to expect around-the-clock immediacy and convenience based on their experiences as consumers. This article takes a look at how banks, including Citi, are responding to these expectations and creating a more modern service paradigm. Accurate and reliable information Looking through the lens of the client, Citi realizes that harnessing data, specifically “big data”, is essential to meeting the demands of clients in a world dominated by digitization and automation. Clients want frictionless processes, ability to self-serve and access to all of their data in a user friendly way, to be able to focus on what matters to them. For banks, creating a better client experience in a data-driven environment often begins with the assembly of disparate data elements from multiple systems and sources around the globe into a cohesive framework. Creating this “single source of truth” establishes the foundation for providing clients with direct visibility into up-to-date information about their accounts and transactions across the globe. To be certain, creating a cohesive data framework across a large global bank such as Citi, which processes $4 trillion daily across more than 96 countries, is no small undertaking. Citi began its journey to create a single source of truth three years ago, with technologists and big data specialists tackling the requisite back-end data mining, mapping, and programming. One of the first online service tools to evolve from this effort was Citi® Payment Insights (CPI), which gives clients direct online access to real-time details about their payment transactions, including processing status, correspondent bank charges, and the amount credited to the beneficiary. They can even monitor their payments via a visual tracker, making payment monitoring akin to tracking a postal package. Citi has developed a number of reporting capabilities in CitiDirect BE® as well as APIs and online knowledge centers so clients can perform actions on their own that historically required engaging a service representative, such as returning unrecognized payments, via Citi Service Insights (CSI). Activities that previously took several days can now be accomplished within minutes via a few keystrokes. Access to data globally through the “single source of truth” is also leveraged in Citi’s service models, as Client Service Officers can now cover clients for multiple geographies providing day-to-day transactional support and through the availability of the data Citi can significantly reduce client touchpoints, which is often cited as a challenge for clients with centralized treasury functions working with several local banks. Demands for quick, easy, and accurate client service are being met with new innovations and service delivery models that are changing the face of client service. Accelerated response times When it comes to providing faster client service, CPI is just one example of how banks are putting big data and new technologies to work to respond to client demands. The compilation of global account inventories is another. In the past, information about accounts was maintained in local country systems, and clients depended on their service representative to collate it. As one might imagine, assembling an inventory of accounts across dozens of countries was highly manual, prone to manual error, and could take several days to complete for a large multinational client. Now, thanks to Citi’s single source of truth and digitization efforts, clients can directly access this information themselves in a matter of minutes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is also playing a big role in streamlining and accelerating service response times. A component of AI known as natural language processing (NLP), for example, can take unformatted text in a client’s email or SWIFT service query and convert it into structured data. NLP can automatically classify data such as account numbers, transaction numbers, payment amounts, and beneficiary names to determine the intent of a request. Using pre-programmed algorithms, NLP will pull data from the bank’s system and prepare a response to the client — almost instantly. At Citi, NLP is also being used to interrogate internal and external databases to automatically respond to queries related to a payment confirmation. Electronic inquiries about such requests are interpreted and payment statuses are retrieved from Citi’s systems or SWIFT’s Global Payments Initiative (GPI) tracker. The process now takes mere seconds, compared to days when the confirmation was reliant on manual touchpoints and messaging across the bank network. Citi continues to work with SWIFT and industry partners to further develop digital capabilities for inquiry management including gpi Case Resolution (gCase) which will establish a community inquiry tool amongst correspondent banks. Getting in front of client needs New technologies and automation are reshaping the client-service landscape in seemingly endless ways, promising to continuously reduce friction, delays, and costs. Even in a world where technology is king and digital tools offer smart ways of getting fast and accurate answers with minimal effort, there will always be a need for personal interactions. As the needs of institutional clients evolve and bank services and products change, so too will the service delivery models of banks. Take the role of service representatives, for example. Looking ahead, rather than simply fielding and responding to client queries, they will be expected to play a more active role in anticipating and identifying the needs of clients. If, for instance, a representative notices that a client is calling at the beginning of every month for a specific report the client could actually download on their own, he or she could guide them on how to get it. As another example, if a representative is aware that there will be system maintenance during a time that a client typically performs a specific task, such as reconciling accounts, he or she could get ahead of what could be a frustrating experience for the client and advise them to plan accordingly. In addition, service representatives will also be more involved in identifying tools and services that empower clients to get what they want, when they want it. More of their time will be spent guiding treasury staff to make the most of new digital tools and technologies at their disposal. In essence, client service teams will shoulder more responsibility for helping clients become more productive and more efficient. The path forward What does all this mean for institutional banking clients? Their demands for quick, easy, and accurate client service are being met with new innovations and service delivery models that are changing the face of client service. Tomorrow’s digital tools are providing smart ways of getting quick answers to service queries with minimal effort. At the same time, the roles of service representatives who are on the frontline with clients are also being redefined. With an eye towards using innovation, insights, and interactions, these efforts aim to not only meet client needs, but exceed them. Banks realize that to maintain a competitive advantage they must remain a step ahead of their clients, identifying the next-best banking solution with service that is smarter, better, and faster.

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<h3 class="h3 text-center text-citi-blue mb-15">A new world of client services is on the horizon for banking clients</h3>
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<div class="text-center col-md-4 col-12 offset-lg-4"><img class="mb-15 rounded-circle" src="/rcs/citigpa/storage/public/icpublic/sandra-peterson.jpg" alt="Sandra Peterson" />
<p><strong>Sandra Peterson</strong>,<br />Global Head<br />Client Service<br />Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi</p>
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<h3 class="text-citi-blue">Institutional banking clients make no secret about it: they want their banks to deliver service that is fast, easy, and accurate. Even more, they demand support 24X7, as they have come to expect around-the-clock immediacy and convenience based on their experiences as consumers.</h3>
<h3 class="text-citi-blue">This article takes a look at how banks, including Citi, are responding to these expectations and creating a more modern service paradigm.</h3>
<h4 class="text-citi-blue">Accurate and reliable information</h4>
<p>Looking through the lens of the client, Citi realizes that harnessing data, specifically &ldquo;big data&rdquo;, is essential to meeting the demands of clients in a world dominated by digitization and automation. Clients want frictionless processes, ability to self-serve and access to all of their data in a user friendly way, to be able to focus on what matters to them.</p>
<p>For banks, creating a better client experience in a data-driven environment often begins with the assembly of disparate data elements from multiple systems and sources around the globe into a cohesive framework. Creating this &ldquo;single source of truth&rdquo; establishes the foundation for providing clients with direct visibility into up-to-date information about their accounts and transactions across the globe. To be certain, creating a cohesive data framework across a large global bank such as Citi, which processes $4 trillion daily across more than 96 countries, is no small undertaking.</p>
<p>Citi began its journey to create a single source of truth three years ago, with technologists and big data specialists tackling the requisite back-end data mining, mapping, and programming. One of the first online service tools to evolve from this effort was Citi<sup style="font-size: x-small;">&reg;</sup> Payment Insights (CPI), which gives clients direct online access to real-time details about their payment transactions, including processing status, correspondent bank charges, and the amount credited to the beneficiary. They can even monitor their payments via a visual tracker, making payment monitoring akin to tracking a postal package. Citi has developed a number of reporting capabilities in CitiDirect BE<sup style="font-size: x-small;">&reg;</sup> as well as APIs and online knowledge centers so clients can perform actions on their own that historically required engaging a service representative, such as returning unrecognized payments, via Citi Service Insights (CSI). Activities that previously took several days can now be accomplished within minutes via a few keystrokes.</p>
<p>Access to data globally through the &ldquo;single source of truth&rdquo; is also leveraged in Citi&rsquo;s service models, as Client Service Officers can now cover clients for multiple geographies providing day-to-day transactional support and through the availability of the data Citi can significantly reduce client touchpoints, which is often cited as a challenge for clients with centralized treasury functions working with several local banks.</p>
<h3 class="text-citi-blue">Demands for quick, easy, and accurate client service are being met with new innovations and service delivery models that are changing the face of client service.</h3>
<h4 class="text-citi-blue">Accelerated response times</h4>
<p>When it comes to providing faster client service, CPI is just one example of how banks are putting big data and new technologies to work to respond to client demands. The compilation of global account inventories is another. In the past, information about accounts was maintained in local country systems, and clients depended on their service representative to collate it. As one might imagine, assembling an inventory of accounts across dozens of countries was highly manual, prone to manual error, and could take several days to complete for a large multinational client. Now, thanks to Citi&rsquo;s single source of truth and digitization efforts, clients can directly access this information themselves in a matter of minutes.</p>
<p>Artificial intelligence (AI) is also playing a big role in streamlining and accelerating service response times. A component of AI known as natural language processing (NLP), for example, can take unformatted text in a client&rsquo;s email or SWIFT service query and convert it into structured data. NLP can automatically classify data such as account numbers, transaction numbers, payment amounts, and beneficiary names to determine the intent of a request. Using pre-programmed algorithms, NLP will pull data from the bank&rsquo;s system and prepare a response to the client &mdash; almost instantly.</p>
<p>At Citi, NLP is also being used to interrogate internal and external databases to automatically respond to queries related to a payment confirmation. Electronic inquiries about such requests are interpreted and payment statuses are retrieved from Citi&rsquo;s systems or SWIFT&rsquo;s Global Payments Initiative (GPI) tracker. The process now takes mere seconds, compared to days when the confirmation was reliant on manual touchpoints and messaging across the bank network. Citi continues to work with SWIFT and industry partners to further develop digital capabilities for inquiry management including gpi Case Resolution (gCase) which will establish a community inquiry tool amongst correspondent banks.</p>
<h4 class="text-citi-blue">Getting in front of client needs</h4>
<p>New technologies and automation are reshaping the client-service landscape in seemingly endless ways, promising to continuously reduce friction, delays, and costs. Even in a world where technology is king and digital tools offer smart ways of getting fast and accurate answers with minimal effort, there will always be a need for personal interactions. As the needs of institutional clients evolve and bank services and products change, so too will the service delivery models of banks.</p>
<p>Take the role of service representatives, for example. Looking ahead, rather than simply fielding and responding to client queries, they will be expected to play a more active role in anticipating and identifying the needs of clients. If, for instance, a representative notices that a client is calling at the beginning of every month for a specific report the client could actually download on their own, he or she could guide them on how to get it. As another example, if a representative is aware that there will be system maintenance during a time that a client typically performs a specific task, such as reconciling accounts, he or she could get ahead of what could be a frustrating experience for the client and advise them to plan accordingly.</p>
<p>In addition, service representatives will also be more involved in identifying tools and services that empower clients to get what they want, when they want it. More of their time will be spent guiding treasury staff to make the most of new digital tools and technologies at their disposal. In essence, client service teams will shoulder more responsibility for helping clients become more productive and more efficient.</p>
<h4 class="text-citi-blue">The path forward</h4>
<p>What does all this mean for institutional banking clients? Their demands for quick, easy, and accurate client service are being met with new innovations and service delivery models that are changing the face of client service.</p>
<p>Tomorrow&rsquo;s digital tools are providing smart ways of getting quick answers to service queries with minimal effort. At the same time, the roles of service representatives who are on the frontline with clients are also being redefined. With an eye towards using innovation, insights, and interactions, these efforts aim to not only meet client needs, but exceed them. Banks realize that to maintain a competitive advantage they must remain a step ahead of their clients, identifying the next-best banking solution with service that is smarter, better, and faster.</p>
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Digitization: Client Service Gets a Whole New Look

The commercial card industry is racing to catch up with consumer offerings. Clients will be the beneficiaries, writes Eileen Wende, Commercial Cards: Digital Channels. Eileen Wende, Digital Channels, Citi Commercial Cards Application programming interfaces (APIs) play an increasingly important role in making our lives easier, even if we aren’t aware of it. These computing interfaces enable different systems, technologies and parties to interact seamlessly with one another. They already play an important role in global banking for both consumers and corporates, and look set to become ever more important for commercial cards in the future. The adoption of APIs is not just being driven by the improved convenience and functionality they offer banking clients – although this is important. In addition, regulators and governments around the world are putting APIs at the center of strategies to improve the performance of national banking systems, increase competitiveness, and enhance security and resilience in the financial system. Within the commercial cards space, banks and other card providers recognize the potential opportunities offered by APIs to create a connectivity layer that links ecosystems, technologies and organizations together and makes it easier to modify data and forge partnerships. As in the broader banking world, APIs enable these connections to be made much quicker and with fewer resources than in the past. That should help lower costs and accelerate the introduction of new functionality. How can APIs deliver value? There are three main types of APIs; private; partner; and open. In relation to commercial cards, private APIs are internal to a bank. They can be used to improve bank processes and increase operational efficiency by reducing the administrative burden. In particular, they have a role to play in overcoming a reliance on legacy technology, which almost all banks have built up over many years, without requiring its (costly) wholesale replacement. Partner APIs currently offer one of the greatest opportunities for commercial cards. They can be either client or partner facing and enable banks to expand their ecosystems and improve inter-connectivity beyond traditional channels such as file or host-to-host channels. Partner APIs can be valuable in addressing the challenges of an evolving regulatory landscape. For instance, in the context of data privacy or security, meeting local or regional requirements has traditionally been timeconsuming and costly. APIs developed by partners have quickly become an essential tool to meet such regional requirements and close regulatory gaps. Public or open APIs, which are made publicly available to software developers and other parties, currently have limited use cases for commercial cards. In the consumer credit card market, issuers open APIs to third parties to allow their applications to access cardholder accounts, to provide accountrelated alerts or information about bill payments and fund transfers, for instance. In the future, as commercial card APIs become more mature, a use case for public APIs could emerge, allowing third parties to initiate financial services on behalf of a cardholder. What do APIs mean for clients? APIs enable not just commercial card issuers but also fintechs, clients and other parties to leverage existing digital infrastructures or build new ecosystems to interact with each other and exchange information in a more systematic and scalable way. By doing so, they help to create opportunities to reduce process complexity and improve levels of automation. However, all commercial card providers need to catch up with the advances that have taken place in the consumer credit card space. The time is ripe for API innovation in the commercial cards market. Clients are increasingly doing business across different industries, with various commercial card use cases and potential challenges associated with managing commercial card program transaction flows. Multiple stakeholders and optionality inevitably increase complexity. An API-enabled ecosystem – rather than a file-based or web interface – helps to achieve greater flexibility and timeliness when exchanging such information. While corporate client demand for commercial card APIs was initially driven by digital native companies and fintechs, traditional companies are increasingly interested in the potential use cases of APIs. Their goal is to gain low-cost real-time access to commercial card data, make real-time payments or perform account maintenance. This change is being prompted by the evolution of many companies’ business models, including increased direct-to-consumer activity and a move to a 24/7 business environment. Although demand for commercial card APIs is currently strongest in APAC and EMEA, it is expected that North America will soon follow suit. API use cases in commercial cards One of the most important issues for commercial card programs is client onboarding. APIs and the use of developer portals helps to give partner or client developers an opportunity to code at their own pace and integrate with the bank in a more self-service way than has historically been the case. The use of APIs and portals helps to provides developers with a sandbox environment, code samples in different languages and the ability to explore the system and information available, reducing time to integration. Typically, the developers in such circumstances would be fintechs that Citi is partnering with for specific use cases or, alternatively, corporate clients. For example, a corporate client planning to use virtual cards will need to integrate with Citi to generate unique card numbers. Another scenario might involve a corporate HR system that automatically sends an API call to Citi to apply for a corporate card for a newly onboarded employee. In the consumer space, developer portals can be fully open, with few restrictions on which entities take part and how APIs can be used. However, for corporate banking – which necessarily involves significant financial assets – it is important to go through due diligence and KYC procedures (not least to meet regulatory and compliance requirements). More generally, it is essential that any API meets Citi’s requirements for service levels and security. Stability, availability and quality of service are critical in financial services, for example, to mitigate against any risks. Keeping these requirements in mind, Citi’s vision is to create an environment that is as open as possible in order to encourage innovation and creativity. APIs are key to Citi’s digital strategy APIs are gaining momentum in the commercial cards space given their rapid deployment in the consumer card space and in other areas of corporate banking. However, APIs also clearly align with Citi’s digital strategy of focusing on client pain points, in order to simplify our offering and deliver more value along the card account lifecycle – both before and after a commercial card transaction. In line with these goals, Citi’s roadmap includes virtual card payment initiation, life-cycle management and transaction reporting. The bank is also planning to use APIs for commercial card account maintenance, including setting credit limits, setting merchant categories accessible to cardholders, and account application functions through HR. In the future, Citi hopes to be able to use transactional data to provide clients with program insights in real time, highlighting potential savings or providing alerts when cardholders are spending with non-preferred vendors.

<article class="mb-15">
<h3 class="h3 text-center text-citi-blue mb-15">The commercial card industry is racing to catch up with consumer offerings. Clients will be the beneficiaries, writes Eileen Wende, Commercial Cards: Digital Channels.</h3>
<div class="row mt-30 mb-15">
<div class="text-center col-md-4 col-12 offset-lg-4"><img class="mb-15 rounded-circle" src="/rcs/citigpa/storage/public/icpublic/eileen-wende.jpg" alt="Eileen Wende" />
<p><strong>Eileen Wende</strong>,<br />Digital Channels,<br />Citi Commercial Cards</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>Application programming interfaces (APIs) play an increasingly important role in making our lives easier, even if we aren&rsquo;t aware of it. These computing interfaces enable different systems, technologies and parties to interact seamlessly with one another. They already play an important role in global banking for both consumers and corporates, and look set to become ever more important for commercial cards in the future.</p>
<p>The adoption of APIs is not just being driven by the improved convenience and functionality they offer banking clients &ndash; although this is important. In addition, regulators and governments around the world are putting APIs at the center of strategies to improve the performance of national banking systems, increase competitiveness, and enhance security and resilience in the financial system.</p>
<p>Within the commercial cards space, banks and other card providers recognize the potential opportunities offered by APIs to create a connectivity layer that links ecosystems, technologies and organizations together and makes it easier to modify data and forge partnerships. As in the broader banking world, APIs enable these connections to be made much quicker and with fewer resources than in the past. That should help lower costs and accelerate the introduction of new functionality.</p>
<h3 class="text-citi-blue">How can APIs deliver value?</h3>
<p>There are three main types of APIs; private; partner; and open. In relation to commercial cards, private APIs are internal to a bank. They can be used to improve bank processes and increase operational efficiency by reducing the administrative burden. In particular, they have a role to play in overcoming a reliance on legacy technology, which almost all banks have built up over many years, without requiring its (costly) wholesale replacement.</p>
<p>Partner APIs currently offer one of the greatest opportunities for commercial cards. They can be either client or partner facing and enable banks to expand their ecosystems and improve inter-connectivity beyond traditional channels such as file or host-to-host channels. Partner APIs can be valuable in addressing the challenges of an evolving regulatory landscape. For instance, in the context of data privacy or security, meeting local or regional requirements has traditionally been timeconsuming and costly. APIs developed by partners have quickly become an essential tool to meet such regional requirements and close regulatory gaps.</p>
<p>Public or open APIs, which are made publicly available to software developers and other parties, currently have limited use cases for commercial cards. In the consumer credit card market, issuers open APIs to third parties to allow their applications to access cardholder accounts, to provide accountrelated alerts or information about bill payments and fund transfers, for instance. In the future, as commercial card APIs become more mature, a use case for public APIs could emerge, allowing third parties to initiate financial services on behalf of a cardholder.</p>
<h3 class="text-citi-blue">What do APIs mean for clients?</h3>
<p>APIs enable not just commercial card issuers but also fintechs, clients and other parties to leverage existing digital infrastructures or build new ecosystems to interact with each other and exchange information in a more systematic and scalable way. By doing so, they help to create opportunities to reduce process complexity and improve levels of automation. However, all commercial card providers need to catch up with the advances that have taken place in the consumer credit card space.</p>
<p>The time is ripe for API innovation in the commercial cards market. Clients are increasingly doing business across different industries, with various commercial card use cases and potential challenges associated with managing commercial card program transaction flows. Multiple stakeholders and optionality inevitably increase complexity. An API-enabled ecosystem &ndash; rather than a file-based or web interface &ndash; helps to achieve greater flexibility and timeliness when exchanging such information.</p>
<p>While corporate client demand for commercial card APIs was initially driven by digital native companies and fintechs, traditional companies are increasingly interested in the potential use cases of APIs. Their goal is to gain low-cost real-time access to commercial card data, make real-time payments or perform account maintenance. This change is being prompted by the evolution of many companies&rsquo; business models, including increased direct-to-consumer activity and a move to a 24/7 business environment. Although demand for commercial card APIs is currently strongest in APAC and EMEA, it is expected that North America will soon follow suit.</p>
<h3 class="text-citi-blue">API use cases in commercial cards</h3>
<p>One of the most important issues for commercial card programs is client onboarding. APIs and the use of developer portals helps to give partner or client developers an opportunity to code at their own pace and integrate with the bank in a more self-service way than has historically been the case. The use of APIs and portals helps to provides developers with a sandbox environment, code samples in different languages and the ability to explore the system and information available, reducing time to integration.</p>
<p>Typically, the developers in such circumstances would be fintechs that Citi is partnering with for specific use cases or, alternatively, corporate clients. For example, a corporate client planning to use virtual cards will need to integrate with Citi to generate unique card numbers. Another scenario might involve a corporate HR system that automatically sends an API call to Citi to apply for a corporate card for a newly onboarded employee.</p>
<p>In the consumer space, developer portals can be fully open, with few restrictions on which entities take part and how APIs can be used. However, for corporate banking &ndash; which necessarily involves significant financial assets &ndash; it is important to go through due diligence and KYC procedures (not least to meet regulatory and compliance requirements).</p>
<p>More generally, it is essential that any API meets Citi&rsquo;s requirements for service levels and security. Stability, availability and quality of service are critical in financial services, for example, to mitigate against any risks. Keeping these requirements in mind, Citi&rsquo;s vision is to create an environment that is as open as possible in order to encourage innovation and creativity.</p>
<h3 class="text-citi-blue">APIs are key to Citi&rsquo;s digital strategy</h3>
<p>APIs are gaining momentum in the commercial cards space given their rapid deployment in the consumer card space and in other areas of corporate banking. However, APIs also clearly align with Citi&rsquo;s digital strategy of focusing on client pain points, in order to simplify our offering and deliver more value along the card account lifecycle &ndash; both before and after a commercial card transaction.</p>
<p>In line with these goals, Citi&rsquo;s roadmap includes virtual card payment initiation, life-cycle management and transaction reporting. The bank is also planning to use APIs for commercial card account maintenance, including setting credit limits, setting merchant categories accessible to cardholders, and account application functions through HR. In the future, Citi hopes to be able to use transactional data to provide clients with program insights in real time, highlighting potential savings or providing alerts when cardholders are spending with non-preferred vendors.</p>
</article>

Why APIs Are About to Transform Commercial Cards

Identifying effective solutions to help address our clients’ evolving needs is a key part of Citi’s role as one of the world’s leading trade finance banks. Citi approaches this challenge by tapping into its innovation ecosystem, where its in-house innovations are complemented by a diverse range of collaborations with external partners. Valeria Sica, Head of Trade product development in Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions, talks about Citi’s open and flexible approach to collaborating with innovators in working to deliver relevant, viable, and transformative technologies to support clients and help shape the future of trade finance. Valeria Sica, Head of Trade product development, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi Complex at the best of times due to its historical reliance on paper and the many parties involved, global trade is not typically renowned for speed when it comes to adopting new technologies. Yet in the decade or so since the financial crisis, the sector has shown remarkable agility, as well as an appetite for innovation not least with respect to the digitization of various elements of the supply chain and in the provision of trade finance. The pandemic’s testing of trade’s resilience uncovered a capacity to nimbly adapt, thanks, in large part, to advances in digitization. For example, paper-intensive processes are now being replaced by digital and automated capabilities. New platforms using blockchain technology are allowing corporates and banks to access data and documents remotely, in real-time and more securely than by couriering them. Trading partners can communicate instantly to process trades and manage finance more quickly and effectively. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are coming into their own, helping to speed up and carry out document-heavy tasks more efficiently. Identifying potential and driving innovation Such advances require advocates. As one of the world’s major trade finance banks, Citi views its role as helping to drive innovation. Many ideas start at Citi’s own Innovation Lab. But just as many are proposed to the bank by a fintech company or start as a suggestion by a client. Citi’s collaborative innovation framework led to a variety of collaborations, including agreements to employ new technologies; various forms of joint venture; collaboration with one or more partners to develop a particular product or service; or Citi joining a consortium of industry players that, together, are working to address challenges facing the industry. While neutral with respect to their origins, Citi’s role is to find, develop and deliver solutions for its clients. This involves running any potential innovation through our evaluation process putting ideas and innovations through their applicability paces. The winners must directly address a client need, be viable, have the potential to advance the bank’s overarching strategy to build the global trade bank of the future, and must also improve trade and the provision of trade finance as a whole: hence the bank’s determination to collaborate and consolidate innovation on an industry-wide basis. Below are just some examples of Citi’s role as a partner, an investor, and as a catalyst. Many address the same issues: authenticity of trade documents and faster flows. From the numerous companies out there, we’ve carefully selected those that we want to work with: i.e. those that we think have the potential to change global trade through a community of people and technical functionality. Trade Information Network: Pushing the boundaries to revolutionize open account trade Some ventures, particularly those involving a step change in industry practice, are best executed by collaborating with industry partners. An excellent example is the Trade Information Network, a consortium that Citi helped found in 2018, together with five other banks1. As an inclusive global multi-bank, multi-corporate network in trade finance, it seeks to transform open account trading by digitizing it creating an inclusive and open industry-standard network that is open to both banks and corporates. It allows corporates to communicate trade information to banks easily and securely (for instance by digitally submitting and verifying purchase orders and invoices), and to request trade financing directly. Buyers and suppliers are in control of their data, designating who can access it. Having reliable information assists banks and can help reduce errors and fraud. Having information earlier in the supply chain can help unlock earlier financing. By deploying open architecture, standardized connectivity and governance principles modelled on SWIFT, the Network aims for maximum adoption that eases access to trade finance for a wider range of companies, including small-medium size enterprises (SMEs). The fundamental purpose is to address the persistent industry issue of the global trade finance gap estimated at US$1.5 trillion2 which affects SMEs, thereby helping such businesses, and global trade, to reach their full potential. Citi will use the network to offer additional financial support to suppliers earlier in the supply chain cycle. 1 ANZ, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered 2 https://www.adb.org/publications/2019-trade-finance-gaps-jobs-survey Komgo: Powering trade networks When the objective is nothing less than automating the global trade network and digitizing trade and asset finance processes, an industry-based approach uniting banks and corporates appears the obvious route to take. In 2018, Citi helped found Komgo with other strategic investors from the bank and corporate community, which now includes 168 corporate and 33 bank users. Komgo supports global digital trade flows through four software solutions, each focused on a critical area of trade: KYC, tracking trade documents and verifying their authenticity, harmonizing and verifying receivable data, and managing issuance and amendments of trade finance instruments. Komgo offers an interoperable and secure data exchange and trusted trade network. It has recently launched its “Digital Agent” collateral tracking suite for collateralized revolvers and has the functionality to support electronic bills of lading (BLs) once the trade community is ready. Allowing verified participants secure communication through structured authenticated messages and using open APIs to interface with other third-party systems, Komgo digitizes workflows and transactions throughout the lifecycle of many key trade finance instruments. This can strengthen trust between members of the trade community. Komgo’s products and strategy to build a global digital network of bank and corporate participants were key reasons Citi got involved. Trusple: Blockchain platform for international trade targeting SMEs and banks In 2020, Citi partnered with BNP Paribas, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered and Ant Group (the company operating Alipay, the largest mobile payment platform in China), to launch Trusple, a blockchain platform for international trade transactions that targets SMEs and banks. SME buyers and sellers without established relationships can often face delays in shipments and payment settlements, which may place pressure on their finances and cashflow. Trusple tackles this challenge as well as helping banks support global trading by SMEs by leveraging smart contracts powered by AntChain to automate the trade transaction. The platform uses “smart” contracts to automatically update information on a trade on the platform, including progress on delivery. It also aims to integrate bank-offered trade finance including automated bank payments using smart contracts. Contour: Digitizing letters of credit While Citi was a co-founder of the above ventures, it may also be equally happy to join a pre-existing consortium, provided the idea helps benefit its clients and advances trade finance. An example of this is Contour, a blockchain-based trade finance network that Citi joined in 2020. Using enterprise software firm R3’s Corda blockchain platform, Contour’s aim is to digitize the traditionally paper-heavy letter of credit (LC) process. It succeeded in reducing the average time it takes to execute from five to ten days (for paper LCs) to under 24 hours in most cases. Having all necessary documents available digitally and in real-time on a trusted digital platform allows banks and trading partners to reconcile their documents more quickly while helping to enhance document security. This represents a huge leap in terms of efficiency for what some consider traditionally cumbersome LCs as well as demonstrating that even the most paper-heavy parts of trade finance can enter the digital age. TradeLens eBL: Automated bills of lading on a blockchain-enabled digital shipping platform Citi is also collaborating with TradeLens, a multifunctional blockchain-based shipping platform. A key offering of the platform is the TradeLens eBL: a standard, industry-supported, end-to-end digital solution that provides shippers, cargo owners, freight-forwarders, banks, and carriers with a streamlined and secure process for the issuance, transfer and surrender of original bills of lading. The TradeLens platform jointly developed by IBM and A.P. Moller-Maersk is helping to increase efficiency and transparency for the large numbers of parties commonly involved in supply chains. Connecting more than 400 organisations across the globe, including global shipping lines MSC, CMA-CGM, customs authorities from over a dozen countries, and gathering data from an additional 600 ports and terminals worldwide: TradeLens provides participants with a single, shared source of shipping data and with trade documentation verified by blockchain technology, helping to ensure a secure record of all transactions. All permissioned parties can follow cargo movements around the world in near-real-time, digitize their documentation and facilitate cross-organizational collaboration and workflows. Citi is also currently piloting the platform’s digital verification, assignment and endorsement of automated bills of lading (eBLs) for LC transactions, which may lead to significant cost reductions. TradeAssets: e-marketplace for trade finance assets Another pre-existing consortium Citi joined is TradeAssets, an institutional trade finance e-marketplace also powered by blockchain and operated by Fintech Innovations International in Dubai. TradeAssets is implementing a step change in the digitization of the marketplace among banks for trade finance assets. It offers banks an online, 24/7 real-time portal for the origination and distribution of trade finance assets, covering LC confirmations, LC discounting, standby LCs, bid and performance bonds and guarantees. Allowing banks to communicate on and trade in such documents more efficiently can help address financial exclusion in emerging markets, thus helping to combat the trade finance gap. Membership stands at 67 financial institutions across 20 countries, with many more anticipated to join across Europe, the Americas and Africa in the near future. HighRadius: AI-powered order-to-cash and treasury management software leader Another example of a strategic investment in AI is Citi Ventures’ partnership with HighRadius, a software company specializing in cloud-based integrated receivables, to develop and launch Citi® Smart Match. Applying HighRadius’ proprietary AI and ML technology, alongside Citi’s own proprietary assets, Citi® Smart Match automates the cash application to the accounts receivable process, matching open invoices to payments received. This traditionally manually intensive process can suffer delays due to difficulties in obtaining remittance information or be hindered by inconsistent payer behaviour and payment mechanisms. Applying AI enabled business logic to match payments received with expected receipts, enhancing straight-through-reconciliation rates while helping to reduce costs and days sales outstanding. This in turn helps to optimize working capital for clients. Cashforce: Real-time analytics for cash forecasting and working capital One of the core challenges faced by large corporates in driving working capital management initiatives is timely data visibility across a complex ERP infrastructure. Citi has invested in and established a strategic partnership with Cashforce to help clients address this challenge. The fintech has developed the ability to extract disparate business data across a large company’s enterprise infrastructure, normalize that data, and deliver analytics to help support agile decision making. Cashforce’s analytics tools are being deployed by Citi clients to join up initiatives between their treasury, finance and core business. The tools are being used to help improve treasury cash forecasting and provide finance and business stakeholders with real-time analytics to assist in making working capital management decisions. The technology is also helping clients assess credit risk dynamics across their distribution and supply chain, identify foreign exchange exposures, and more accurately plan future liquidity needs. Citi is collaborating with Cashforce to help the bank’s clients deploy these advanced data and analytics tools as well as support their journey towards more efficient and resilient supply chains. Using artificial intelligence for compliance and transaction monitoring Over recent years, Citi’s digitization of trade data has helped the bank develop new ways to address compliance, standardize global control processes and make compliance processes more efficient by focusing resources on the areas of highest risk. To achieve this, Citi partnered with several organizations. With EY and SAS, Citi deployed compliance system covering boycott language detection and sanction screening. Further, the team is working to develop a platform for trade-based money laundering (TBML) and fraud controls that uses an advanced risk analytics scoring engine. The engine harnesses machine learning to detect potentially higher-risk transactions through analyzing historical behaviour and current transaction data points in real time. To address the emerging risks of abnormal vessel behaviour, Citi’s Innovation Lab is developing a solution that uses an API to receive Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s vessel data to create a real-time vessel evaluation platform. The platform uses self-learning AI to determine if a vessel is potentially engaging in elusive or unusual movements. Lastly, Citi partnered with a vendor on a real-time AI tool that, once deployed, will screen and evaluate the goods in a trade transaction for the potential inclusion of military or dual-use goods. Home grown innovation Citi’s in-house program of projects are equally varied in complexity and range, from providing trade clients with access to digital trade documents and data, to solving more narrowly focused technical problems. For example, Citi’s secure online global platform CitiDirect® underpins all of its other services to trade clients, in addition to cash management services offering fast, easy access to critical real-time information, the ability to initiate transactions in minutes and digitally-manage instructions for trade instruments including guarantees, LCs, trade loans, export collections and supply chain finance transactions for receivables and payables finance: all on a secure, user-friendly web-based platform. Mobile functionality additionally allows clients to manage their trade finance with ease. An example of a more narrowly focused innovation that brings benefits is Citi’s own unique optical character recognition (OCR) technology that uses bespoke software to digitize traditional paper-based trade processing. The application identifies and classifies trade documents and extracts key data. Finally, Citi works closely with SWIFT using MT798 FileAct or the “Trade Envelope”. This provides corporates and banks with a single, standardized and secure channel through which to exchange trade data via structured authenticated messages on the SWIFT platform. Welcoming the trade finance market of the future These are just some examples showing that innovation and collaboration are in Citi’s DNA. Citi’s aim is to be the catalyst for change, embracing new ideas, technologies, and solutions. If that means collaborating, we welcome it. If that requires investment, we are committed to doing so. If internal development is needed, we’ll bring our resources and talent to help meet the challenge: all with the goal of benefitting clients and helping to secure the long-term future of trade finance.

How Tech is Changing the Future of Trade