Experts discuss payments innovation at Citi roadshows

Citi brought together its leading experts on financial institutions (FIs) from its global office, and senior representatives from SWIFT and Deloitte to provide insights into industry trends and innovations shaping the evolving financial landscape.

Citi is the trusted advisor and supplier of services to 1,500 FIs across the world and serves the top banks and FIs in 149 countries. In 2023, Citi surveyed over 100 of its financial institution clients on the Future of Cross-Border Payments, and the results revealed 89 per cent expect to lose at least 5 per cent of their share to FinTechs in the next 5–10 years.

Thus, FIs are looking for solutions that offer speed, cost efficiency, and transparency, and Citi is investing in solutions that can meet their needs.

For example, Citi announced in June 2024 a first of its kind collaboration with a large bank in the Middle East leveraging its 24/7 USD Clearing service to make cross-border USD payments available to their corporate and retail clients at any time, end-to-end, across their branch network.

Citi’s 24/7 USD Clearing solution helps FIs address speed concerns by enabling them to effectively make USD payments in real-time globally, with minimal effort on their part.

Citi experts also emphasised partnering with Fintechs as a key solution for banks. APAC is a leading region for partnerships between Banks and Fintechs. 87 per cent of banks are planning to connect with an average of four fintechs in the next 12 to 18 months.

Speakers also discussed the impact of technology on payments. Citi research pointed out that 24/7 operations, blockchain, and AI will have the most impact on the industry in the coming years.

“This is the second year in a row that we have brought together FI experts from around the world to share insights with our banking partners in Vietnam. Financial institutions are integral to any market and to the global economy, and Citi offers a unique combination of global presence, expertise, and local access, with integrated product capabilities across over 100 countries, across 140 currencies,” said Ramachandran A.S., Citi's Vietnam country officer and banking head.

At the event, Citi also announced the winners of the Citi Excellent Straight Through Processing Award 2023 to recognise local banks for automatic processing of international payments. The 11 award-winning Vietnamese banks were ACB, Agribank, BIDV, Eximbank, HDBank, MB, Sacombank, Techcombank, Vietcombank, VietinBank and VPBank.

The Citi Excellent Straight Through Processing Award has been ongoing for two decades and recognises financial institutions and banks with state-of-the-art international payment services.

Vietnam’s growth recovery exceeds expectations Vietnam’s GDP growth in the second quarter of 2024 rose to 6.9 per cent on-year, up from 5.7 per cent in the first quarter. The acceleration was driven by both the manufacturing and services sectors, highlighting economic resilience.

Citi estimates robust macro prospects heading into 2025 Citi’s mid-year research on Vietnam’s economic outlook has affirmed its initial projections for the country.

Foreign-invested enterprises turn attention to Vietnam’s domestic market Foreign-invested enterprises are shifting their focus to Vietnam's lucrative domestic market, driven by its large population and high GDP growth.