Citi has launched a cross-border platform to help its multinational clients manage the complexities in collecting cross border business-to-business (B2B) payments, by digitising the transaction process and embedding foreign exchange (FX) capabilities. Citi Global Collect is a collaboration between Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) and Foreign Exchange (FX) businesses. The platform is designed to help multinational clients continue to extend their global reach, making it easier to collect funds from overseas payers and apply cash faster.

In today’s environment, institutions deal with multiple service providers to collect their payments by presenting invoices, collecting funds cross-border and reconciling payments, which Citi identifies as creating an inefficient and disjointed experience. Additionally, current collection processes are primarily manual and paper-based, creating more operational inefficiency.

To address this challenge, the bank has combined its local payment offerings, account structures and FX capabilities with a digital invoicing platform from HighRadius Corporation, a Citi Ventures portfolio company. This fully integrated platform connects Citi’s clients to their international payers across what the bank describes as key markets in all regions. By automating the entire workflow - including international billing, automated payment, currency selection and reconciliation - multinational clients can achieve greater visibility and control over cross-border receipts and their global cash position.

“In today’s digital economy, clients must scale quickly into new markets to remain competitive," said Manish Kohli, global head, Payments and Receivables at Citi. "...we are arming our clients with the technology to enable expansion and sustain growth by automating key aspects of their core operations and improving the end-to-end user experience.” 

How it works

Citi Global Collect leverages the bank’s international footprint, alongside its FX and payments capabilities, to create a frictionless payment experience for both billers and payers. By embedding guaranteed FX rates into the invoicing process, institutional clients have access to multi-currency pricing and can price goods and services in the preferred currency of their international payers, while still receiving the full amount in their functional currency with guaranteed rates.

The payer has the benefit of receiving the invoice in their home currency, giving them a domestic payment experience despite the cross-border nature of the payment. This also reduces the FX and transaction costs typically found with this type of transaction. When the payment is sent from the payer, the platform's AI-driven itemised reconciliation process identifies the payment and converts it back into the Citi client's preferred currency, providing the corporate biller with a globally consistent experience.