Cross-Border Instant Payments

The delivery of payments to the end beneficiary and their experience along the way determines a customer’s trust and brand loyalty. Unlocking brand loyalty: From refunds, to commission payments, to paying shareholder dividends The delivery of payments to the end beneficiary and their experience along the way determines a customer’s trust and brand loyalty. This is especially important when paying individuals. Imagine the scenario where a customer cancels an order for goods or services and within seconds they receive a refund. That customer has had a good experience. Brand trust and loyalty has been established and the customer is likely to return. However, for every day it takes for funds to be returned, trust will likely be diluted and customer loyalty is impacted. This highlights the importance of speeding up cross-border payments with extended availability, no longer bound by cut offs. Improving supply chain relationships: Paying suppliers instantly and with full value With the growth of e-commerce, small businesses are increasingly accessing global markets, but often small businesses are faced with the task of balancing fragile cash flows. Days Receivables Outstanding (DSO) is a critical measurement for small businesses; one that has to be managed very carefully. When buyers are able to offer suppliers, both businesses and individuals, with the option of receiving payments instantly and with full value, this inherently unlocks improvements to supply chain relationships, creates resiliency for the supplier in terms of cash flow and helps to minimize liquidity risk. From small value business-consumer flows, to larger business-business flows, emerging cross-border instant payments capabilities are helping corporates strengthen supply chain relationships, fuelling both traditional and digital economies. Similarly to paying suppliers that are individuals, corporates can also unlock material benefits when using cross-border instant payments to pay staff payroll. Balance sheet control and streamlined account structures: Instant cross-border intra-company funding to reduce the cost of borrowing One of the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) for any company, large or small, is to reduce the cost of borrowing and streamline their account structures to avoid trapped or idle cash, as this uses up precious capital that could otherwise be used for investing in growth. For companies operating in multiple jurisdictions, the ability to move funds near-instantly, across borders, 24/7 is a key enabler for improving intra-company funding and reducing the need for, and cost of borrowing. Furthermore, where overseas accounts are used purely for disbursements, without any receivables, the ability to pay cross-border near-instantly is an enabler to rationalize account structures, and centralize payments from a single country, out of single account. Reducing costs: Cross-border instant payments eliminates beneficiary bank charges and reduces operating costs The emergence of digital economies has led to a sharp increase in higher-volume, lower-value payments, especially across consumer-business and business-consumers payments. As an example, certain e-commerce industries, such as ride-hailing services, providers of property rentals, or data streaming “influencer” services, can often have thousands of cross-border payments a month. Managing such high-volume, lower-value payments can be expensive, especially when paying individuals overseas. These costs often materialize from beneficiary bank charges and the costs associated with managing beneficiary inquiries around receipt of funds. Recently introduced cross-border instant payments solutions are exempt from beneficiary bank charges, delivering the full amount to the end beneficiary. This in turn removes costs associated with managing inquiries from beneficiaries regarding the receipt of funds, as payments are received near instantly. Furthermore, real-time payments status updates through API connectivity can further enhance both the payor and payee’s experience. Providing payees with choice and convenience: Cross-border instant payments to digital wallets The rise of digital wallets is one of the most material shifts in the payments landscape over the last five years. Having access to cross-border payments through digital wallets is becoming increasingly important for both traditional and digital companies. This is especially relevant when paying to freelancers, app developers and influencers — a trend largely driven by the fact that many people in these roles are millennials, who are more enthusiastic adopters of digital wallets. Citi’s recent launch of cross-border payments to digital wallets in Kenya, Pakistan and the bank’s ability to pay directly into PayPal wallets is an important development that meets the needs of both traditional and digital native customers. Such payments offer near real-time delivery of funds, with full value guaranteed and extended availability, near 24/7. Furthermore, Cross-Border Payments to PayPal digital wallets are a great alternative to checks, unlocking the ability to make payments to beneficiaries without requiring their bank account information. In fact, Citi will soon be able to support payments to “unsubscribed” PayPal users — with just the beneficiary’s name and email address, you can make a payment to a beneficiary that doesn’t have a PayPal wallet. They will receive a request via email or SMS to open a PayPal wallet to receive the funds. The future is now... and we want to keep building it with you To help our clients unlock brand loyalty, improve supply chain relationships and provide payees with more choice and convenience, Citi WorldLink Payment Services is now live with Cross-Border Instant Payments to India, Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand and the UK, with many more corridors planned for 2022, including Canada, Australia and SEPA (EUR) payments. WorldLink also enables its clients to pay into a growing number of Digital Wallets and Debit Cards across the globe, achieving near-instant, full value payments. Citi Network Instant Payments also offers cross-border instant payments between its own branches across select markets. Citi’s continued investments in faster and smarter cross-border payments into Accounts, Digital Wallets and Cards are fast becoming a game-changer for its Corporate clients to achieve digital transformation and greater payment efficiency through near-instant, full value payments, with near 24/7 availability. If you are interested in exploring further, we would be delighted to hear from you. *Note: Future capabilities are subject to change.