Citi has added the renminbi (RMB) to its Multi-Currency Notional Pooling service in London.

This extension of Citi's existing pooling capabilities responds to the growing internationalisation of the Chinese currency and brings the total number of currencies available in Citi's multi-currency pooling offering to 26. It has already implemented this solution for a multi-national corporate client.

"By implementing this RMB offshore multi-currency notional pool, we can now help our clients integrate RMB deeper into their cash and liquidity management processes," said Rajesh Mehta, EMEA Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi Transaction Services.

Renminbi overtakes Rouble in SWIFT's global payments currency ranking
The RMB is continuing its move towards becoming a major international payments currency, according to the latest RMB tracker index issued by SWIFT.

In December 2012, the RMB was larger than the Danish krone (DKK), South African rand (ZAR) and New Zealand dollar (NZD) and has now overtaken the Russian rouble (RUB) to take 13th position in the ranking of world payments currencies.

SWIFT reports that RMB payments grew in value by 171% between January 2012 and January 2013. The last month alone saw a 24% increase, against 13% across all currencies, propelling it to an all-time high market share of 0.63%. In the same year, the Russian Rouble (RUB) grew by only 18% and lost 5.4% in the last month, making it drop to 0.56% market share.