Citi Country Officer Batara Sianturi cited Citi’s global strategy to become the world’s leading digital bank
The country’s largest foreign bank recently introduced corporate clients to its latest banking innovation. Citi’s award-wining platform CitiDirect Online Banking is transforming into CitiDirect Banking Evolution (BE), offering an impressive suite of portal-based web services and an integrated mobile solution.
With the theme “A New Banking Evolution: Innovate to Elevate,” the event was held at Citi’s Smart Branch in Makati. Citi also put the spotlight on the bank’s pioneering innovations and breakthroughs through the years.
In his welcome message, Citi Country Officer Batara Sianturi said that this latest innovation is part of Citi’s global strategy to become the world’s leading digital bank. “Citi is a major player in the global transactions business, servicing financial institutions, corporate, investors and consumers to make payments and manage their cash. We leverage our global capabilities and continued investments in technology to provide our corporate clients in the Philippines a seamless, user-friendly and convenient platform with CitiDirect BE,” added Sianturi.
Citi Asia Pacific Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) Regional Product Manager George Worden led the live demonstration of the latest interface, teaching clients how to navigate the application on desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices.
A newly designed single-entry portal offers one-click access to CitiDirect BE’s transaction capabilities, while also providing new analytic applications such as trend analytics scorecards, self-service tools and interactive business intelligence functionality.
Providing another window into CitiDirect BE is CitiDirect BE Mobile which offers a secure and convenient mobile interface to meet the growing demand for flexibility. Real-time SMS alerts and payment notifications, as well as account balance and transaction inquiries are among the features of this new mobile alternative.
“With the incorporation of Citi Direct BE Mobile, we give clients the power to control their accounts whenever they want and wherever in the world they may be. This service provides an alternative to desktop and laptop computers, thereby streamlining business processes while enhancing speed, efficiency and productivity,” said TTS Country Head John Ong.
At the event, TTS In-Business Control Officer Ritzi Roldan also talked about the Dangers of Manually Initiated Funds Transfers or MIFT, emphasizing the need to move into electronic banking. Guest speaker David Uichanco, solution adviser at SAP Philippines, shared insights on solutions-based thinking and innovative ways of doing business.
Representatives of nearly 30 companies attended the event, including Procter and Gamble, International Container Terminal Services Inc., Pepsico, Petron and Colgate-Palmolive Philippines.
CitiDirect BE provides a gateway to a breadth of online banking products across more than 90 countries and in over 135 currencies. The seamless transition to CitiDirect BE assures a client-friendly upgrade to over 60,000 clients and more than 400,000 users worldwide.