Corporations in Asia Pacific Increasing Use of Commercial Cards to Replace Traditional Payment Methods

Asia Pacific – Corporates in the Asia Pacific region are increasingly mandating the use of commercial cards for all eligible purchases as they migrate from more traditional payment tools, Citi's Asia Pacific Commercial Cards Survey 2018 shows.

Findings reveal that corporates are expanding commercial card programs to alternative flows including meetings and events, and procurement, for increased visibility of flows, centralized controls and governance, heightened efficiencies and improvements in operational strategies.

The study, the first by Citi with a focus on corporate clients in Asia Pacific, found that clients in the region had increased their commercial card spend by over 24% in 2017. Business-to-business (B2B) spend followed suit, increasing by close to 50% over the same period.

Polling 46 decision makers from over 40 corporates in the region across a range of industries, the survey's findings are being released in conjunction with Citi's Asia Pacific Commercial Payments Summit 2018 which opened in Singapore this morning.

Themed "Simple. Global. Digital", the annual summit brings together over 100 industry leaders in the commercial payments space to discuss best practices and industry trends, and share thought leadership.

The expansion of commercial cards usage in the region has continued through to 2018. Commercial card spend for Citi's top ten commercial cards clients increased by 23% from January to April 2018, compared with same period last year.

Already, 76% of clients polled have mandated the use of corporate cards for travel expenses.

The survey also found that of the 36% of corporate clients without a procurement card or Virtual Card Account (VCA) program, over half are now planning to adopt commercial cards to replace Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, checks and other payment methods.

Citi's VCA is a next-generation global digital payment solutions designed to give clients greater security, flexibility and control over organizational expenses. With VCA, corporates are able to generate unique virtual card numbers and dynamically set spending and reconciliation controls on each virtual card number based on their specific purchasing needs.

Commenting on the results of the findings, Deven Somaya, Citi's Head of Commercial Cards for Asia Pacific, Treasury & Trade Solutions said, "The expanding use of commercial cards by corporates in the region corresponds to the increasing focus on digital and technology. As business operations become more complex, corporates want solutions that are simple and digital to optimize efficiencies. We continue to innovate and co-create with our partners and clients as we further invest in and build our Commercial Cards business."

Clients' preference for digital solutions is reflected in the fact that a majority - over 80% - of those polled in the survey use Citi's proprietary digital tools and platforms to apply for commercial cards and view card statements.

About Citi Commercial Cards

As a leading commercial cards issuer with the largest global proprietary network, Citi has successfully served the needs of large market and multinational organizations for more than 40 years with over 14,000 commercial card programs, 6 million cardholders and approximately US$42+ billion in annual charge volume globally. In Asia, Citi Commercial Cards was first launched in 2005 and is now available in 12 markets across the region.

The Citi Commercial Cards proposition offers distinct and unique value propositions for corporate clients by providing:

1. Maximum Global Acceptance: Citi cards are accepted at 45+ million merchant locations and 1,900,000 ATMs in over 200 countries and territories.
2. Broadest Proprietary Network: Service in over 100 countries including 65 local currency card programs, 45 currencies and over 28 languages. Consistent Citi managed programs and products, implementations and service around the globe.
3. Global Data and Global Reporting: Citi's unified global technology system and single data repository provides our clients a complete view of their global program data, through a minimal number of reporting tools, with extractable common data attributes and standardized reporting - this facilitates unmatched control and visibility.
4. Customized Global File Integration: Flexible and customizable Expense Management Systems (EMS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, e.g. SAP, Concur, and Oracle file integration capabilities across the globe—this includes both format and frequency.
5. Expansion and Innovation Investment: Citi continues to be committed to invest in our products and services—we are focused on global expansion, streamlined management and servicing, and our core capabilities of innovative and efficient solutions.

Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

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Treasury and Trade Solutions
Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) enables our clients' success by providing an integrated suite of innovative and tailored cash management and trade finance services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations across the globe. Based on the foundation of the industry's largest proprietary network with banking licenses in over 100 countries and globally integrated technology platforms, TTS continues to lead the way in offering the industry's most comprehensive range of digitally enabled treasury, trade and liquidity management solutions.

Media Contacts:
Harsha Jethnani, +852 2868 7738, harsha.jethnani@citi.com