Southeast Asia's troubled economy was a ready setting for Citibank to introduce an electronic commerce service for corporations.
Citibank Commerce, a procurement system jointly developed by the e-citi and global cash and trade groups, is to be offered initially to customers in Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia, and Thailand.
It is intended to let corporate customers buy from and sell to other corporations. The service includes Internet bill payment and purchase ordering in an attempt to reduce the management effort and costs required for tasks typically handled manually.
The undeveloped state of corporate cash management technology in Asia, combined with the region's slumping economy, proved a ripe environment for Citi's offering, said Michael Guralnick, Asia-Pacific head of marketing and sales for the global cash and trade group.
"We want to provide customers with new business opportunities and ways of accessing existing markets more efficiently at a time of economic downturn," he said.
Citibank predicts cost savings for businesses that use the service of up to 75% per transaction. It will charge a fixed fee per transaction.
The e-commerce service is designed to boost Citibank's share of business in Asia, where its cash management division already has more than 8,000 clients.
The bank plans to expand the service quickly to Europe, Latin America, and the United States, a spokeswoman said.
In general, Citibank aims to increase its proportion of revenue derived from outside the United States-currently 25%-to one-half.
Avivah Litan, research director at Stamford, Conn.-based GartnerGroup, said that in a couple of years Citibank's e-commerce presence in Asia "will really pay off."
Citibank Commerce customers are to have access to more than 1,000 clearing zones and Citibank branches across 20 Asian or Pacific countries. Customer service will be available 23 hours a day, seven days a week, the bank said, and settlement and reconciliation will be done on-line.
The software integrates with enterprise resource planning tools such as Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, and legacy systems.
