Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) has launched Citi Service Insights (CSI) with SWIFT gpi Case Resolution integration. This digital service provides clients with a centralised view to manage or close all their service inquiries globally and also allows clients to open several types of inquiries digitally. 

Previously, this was done through a combination of manual processes, which have now been digitised to increase transparency and speed for issue resolution. Additionally, with the integration of gpi Case Resolution, the bank says its clients have direct access to dynamic interbank query handling across the SWIFT network, resulting in faster payments resolution and settlement.

"Citi Service Insights (CSI) is a digital, self-service tool that can be used as a dashboard for raising, managing and closing out inquiries," commented Manish Kohli, Global Payments and Receivables head at Citi. "The integration of gpi Case Resolution represents a significant milestone in our ability to provide clients with digital servicing capabilities and shows how we are working with the industry to create a seamless payments experience with our clients at the centre."

Features of the new service

Users of the new service can view and manage all inquiries on a comprehensive dashboard. The case management functionality allows treasurers to respond to, follow up on, close or reopen inquiries for payments, accounts, channels, products and services, and reports and statements categories. The documentation management function lets users upload documents for inquiries, while they can also create new service requests for the Citi Service team to action directly from the CSI portal for several types of queries.

The solution's audit trail lets users track service requests with the audit trail highlighting time and context of all previous communications. Meanwhile, the seamless integration with Citi Payment Insights (CPI) provides payment status updates via a visual tracker, making payment tracking as simple as tracking a package, through SWIFT gpi and big data. CSI allows clients to see CPI requests pending authorisation/response and to see information on cases opened against payments visible on CPI on CSI.

"The Citi Service Insights solution has been beneficial for Instinet by eliminating the back and forth of email exchanges and email tracking," said Sara Wong, Treasury vice president at Instinet. "By having everything centralised on one platform, this solution simplifies and streamlines what was previously a cumbersome process. As a result, our response times are much faster and we’ve eliminated the need to maintain contact lists of all Citi teams and branches."

Drivers for digitisation

COVID-19 has driven and accelerated demand for digital self-service tools as well as greater automation in the post payment processing space. As a part of its goal to create a digital platform for commerce, Citi has now created the capability for clients to digitally access information related to service inquiries through Citi Service Insights on its client facing portal, CitiDirect BE. Clients are now able to track payment services digitally, with a centralised view of inquiries through a dashboard and digital connectivity, eliminating the need to contact Citi Service via phone, email or SWIFT message.

Citi says that its Service Insights is globally consistent, so no matter where a client’s accounts are domiciled or what currencies they are transacting in, they can raise and track cases for these accounts. CSI is also channel-agnostic; all cases with Citi will be visible, regardless of whether they were opened via MT199, email, or phone, for example. It has also been integrated with SWIFT gpi Case Resolution, creating a more seamless post-payment processing experience, using the latest industry innovations and standards. 

The bank says that early data on the effectiveness of case resolution has been very promising, showing that inquiries are resolved faster and more efficiently than equivalent non-case resolution inquiries. Over the next few months, this capability will be extended even further to allow clients to directly raise or update gpi case resolution queries through Citi Service Insights, giving them a direct pathway to resolve payments inquiries. 

Currently, clients can view the status of case resolution inquiries on CSI including the inquiry tracking across the SWIFT gpi tracker. Automated opening of case resolution queries is expected soon as well.

"Frictionless, secure and instant account to account payments are at the heart of SWIFT’s new strategy and so making exceptions and investigations easier to manage is vital for us," said David Scola, chief executive of the Americas and UK at SWIFT. "On the rare occasion that a payment is held up by an error, gpi case resolution enables financial institutions to investigate the issue and fix it efficiently, reducing friction and payments processing times, and improving overall customer experience. We look forward to continuing working closely with Citi as it extends its gpi Case Resolution offering to the benefit of its customers in the coming year."