Citi Launches Mobile Service for Corporate Clients

Citigroup Inc.'s Global Transaction Services division launched a new mobile service for banks' institutional clients to use for their cash management and trade finance needs.

The service, called CitiDirect BE Mobile, builds on CitiDirect BE Online. The mobile system, announced Wednesday, lets users set and receive alerts about account balances and potential overdrafts.

It also lets them approve cash wires and payment files, Hubert J.P. Jolly, managing director of channel and enterprise services for Citi Global Transaction Services says. In the coming months GTS will let clients initiate certain kinds of pre-approved files.

"Before, these clients had to be in the office or near a PC to log in to CitiDirect to get this information, and now it is pushed to them," Jolly says.

The service is currently available in 24 countries and it will be available in 96 countries by the end of the first quarter 2012, Jolly says.

This is a service that corporate clients want, analysts say.

"While the majority of corporate treasurers will likely use mobile devices to quickly access account information and cash positions, a large number are also interested in approving transactions, like payments," Christine Barry, research director at Aite Group, wrote in an email.

About a third of treasury executives say they are either likely or very likely to use a mobile device to perform advanced banking functions if their bank offered it, according to an October survey of 300 treasury executives globally by Aite.

"The ability to authorize payments from a mobile device prevents productivity slowdowns for the corporate customer and accelerates fee-generating activities for the bank," Barry said.

Citi has been on an online and mobile tear recently, introducing a new online banking site for its retail customers in October. The site uses features from mobile banking in the way it is stripped down and menu-oriented. In July, Citi also released an app for the iPad which has sophisticated personal financial management capabilities.

CitiDirect BE Online has 50,000 corporate clients and 300,000 users. All will be eligible to use the mobile banking product, which works across all major smartphone platforms.