All banks offer their corporate customers mobile payment facilities. It is no surprise that consumers are using mobile payment facilities more and more. However, it is surprising that corporates are increasingly embracing mobile payments. HSBC have had more than $100 billion in payments now authorised globally through their HSBCnet mobile corporate banking platform since its launch in 2011. And the total transaction value of mobile payments has more than doubled in the last 18 months.

While Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions has processed over $1trillion globally, in client transaction value, on CitiDirect BE® Mobile and CitiDirect BE® Tablet since 2011. 

Use by CFOs and corporate treasurers 

In March 2016 CTMfile reported some concerns on cybersecurity best practices, e.g. how to add beneficiaries. But these seem to have disappeared. Alex Rolfe, editor Payment Cards and Mobile, reports that, “The volume of mobile payments made by Chief Financial Officers and Corporate Treasurers has also sharply increased. A total of 1.2 million payments have now been made since the platform’s launch. So far in 2016, more than 564,000 mobile payments were made by HSBC’s corporate customers, compared with 371,000 in 2015.”

Mobile has gone global

All cash management banks rolled out mobile services over the last five years. HSBC one of the mobile leaders launched its Android and Apple smartphone app for corporates globally throughout 2014 and 2015. Rolfe reports that, “Since then, more than 76,000 corporate users have downloaded the app and transactions authorised via the app are now nearly equal to transactions authorised via the mobile website.”

Citi’s mobile services, which mirror their online services, are global and multi-lingual: 

• CitiDirect BE Mobile, launched in 2011, is live in 92 countries, 16 languages
• CitiDirect BE Tablet, launched in 2013, is live in 83 countries, 9 languages. 

With Citi’s MobilePASS users log into CitiDirect BE®, CitiDirect BE® Mobile and CitiDirect BE® Tablet by leveraging their smart phones to generate dynamic passcodes, instead of the physical token (SafeWord cards).

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CTMfile take: These global mobile solutions have enabled corporate treasurers and CFOs to approve the large value payments regardless of where they are. This has transformed the way many treasury departments operate.