Citizens to launch digital platform for commercial clients

Citizens Bank is preparing to launch a new online and mobile banking platform for its commercial and business banking clients.

The launch comes as Citizens is carving out a niche in the market for midsize companies, hiring commercial bankers and expanding its M&A advisory services in a bid to attract new clients.

The platform, which will be deployed in partnership with Bottomline Technologies, will offer an all-in-one suite of services such as cash management and payments. Clients will be able to tailor the services by industry or market segment, the Providence, R.I.-based bank said in a news release.

Mike Cummins of Citizens Financial Group

The platform is meant to make business owners' lives easier while also managing fraud risks and enabling secure payments. To that end, users will be able to personalize their dashboards to obtain the insights they need and make it easier to tackle their daily tasks.

"Clients want to be able to complete their cash management activities with automation, speed, security and flexibility, leveraging the latest technology to make their jobs easier," Michael Cummins, head of treasury solutions at Citizens Bank, said in the release.

Citizens' investment in the platform will further the $150.3 billion-asset bank's objective of "becoming a best-in-class treasury management services provider," he added.

By relying on Bottomline's platform-as-a-service technology, Citizens will be able to provide a digital banking experience that remains consistent across channels and devices. Among the stated benefits of the new platform are improved navigation, simplified transactions, better alerts and enhanced fraud and security protections.

"This new technology platform brings together a unique combination of financial services offerings which, until now, were largely restricted to single-point solutions that can be overly complex and expensive," Norm DeLuca, managing director and general manager of digital banking solutions at Bottomline Technologies, said in the release. "We can deliver the seamlessly integrated experience now required for banks to engage customers in new and more advanced ways."

The platform's launch is still a little way off. Existing Citizens clients will start moving to the new system in the second half of 2018, the bank said in its release Thursday.

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Regional banks Digital banking Bank technology Citizens Financial
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