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Citi has announced the launch of the Citi Digital Bill (CDB), a new integrated digital bill discounting solution to speed up the monetisation of receivables.
Bills of exchange (BoEs) have remained paper-based for some time. This new solution offers a comprehensive end-to-end digital platform as a replacement.
Flows will take place within Citi’s proprietary receivables finance platform, CitiDirect.
With a CDB, parties – be it sellers, buyers, or Citi themselves – can sign, accept, endorse, and finance a digital bill on CitiDirect.
The solution intends to reduce complexity in fragmented manual trade finance processes and to allow working capital to be accessed within minutes rather than weeks.
Similarly, for sellers, the CDB could alleviate operational risks and opacity regarding the collection and safekeeping of paper documents.
Sanjeev Ganjoo, Global Head of Trade Receivable Finance at Citi Services, emphasised how significant the CDB is to Citi. “The launch of Citi Digital Bill is a significant advancement in trade finance, marking a groundbreaking shift away from longstanding paper and the wet ink-based practice of discounting bills. Citi Digital Bill is a testimony to our digital-first approach to enhancing trade finance solutions,” he said.
From the buyer side, CDB allows for immediate access to digital bills, and on-demand updates on the status of invoice approvals; it also enhances risk matching by connecting buyers with relevant banks.
CDB is currently available to Citi’s clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, with plans to expand.
