Cross-Border Payments for Digital Native Economies

4 Treasury and Trade Solutions Managing FX risk efficiently “The borderless and global nature of digital economies presents a need for efficient tools to manage currency exposures. API-enabled FX solutions allows digital native companies to access real-time FX rates that are fully integrated into their own platforms, unlocking both maximum efficiency and an optimal consumer experience,” said Sam Hewson, Citi’s Global Head of e-FX solutions. • e-commerce: When selling overseas, enabling consumers to purchase goods or services in their preferred local currency is important, but this can present balance sheet or FX risks. Having the tools to seamlessly manage FX conversions and remove any volatility risk is important to mitigate currency exposure. From online travel agencies selling holiday packages overseas, to online sellers of luxury goods, to cross-border payments to freelancers, managing FX risk efficiently is an important key performance indicator (KPI). • Payment service providers: Strategic partnerships between banks and payment service providers are important for servicing small to medium-sized businesses and e-commerce industries. Citi continues to establish strategic partnerships with industry- leading payment service providers, enabling access to Citi’s FX and cross-border payment capabilities, which in turn, are made available to payment service providers’ underlying clients. For instance, some payment service providers may need to purchase foreign currency using live FX rates (instantly accessible via API) and hold foreign currency balances (with their bank partner) until they need to make same-currency, cross-border payments. Other providers may need to lock in guaranteed rates to eliminate FX volatility risk and currency exposure. Similarly, there may be a need to lock in live FX rates for just a few hours until payments are executed, but without the need to hold foreign currency accounts.