Citi Launches Biometric Authentication for Institutional Clients in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific – Citi's institutional clients in China, India, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam can now use fingerprint or facial recognition to access their CitiDirect BE® Mobile App, Citi's award-winning digital banking platform for institutions on mobile.

First piloted with select clients in the region in 2018, the CitiDirect BE® Mobile App offers clients a fast, simple and secure banking experience. Through the app, a client can authorize payments, view balances and cash positions, and manage users. The app and biometric authentication capability will be separately introduced in additional markets in the region progressively.

Designed in partnership with clients, the biometric solution enables authentication in mere seconds and serves as an additional alternative for secure access to accounts. Prior to the new solution, clients would have to use MobilePASS—an app-based digital token—or physical tokens to first generate dynamic passcodes before accessing their accounts.

"We continue to digitize our core offerings, incorporating a design thinking and client-centric approach to offer solutions that provide real value to institutional clients. It is imperative that institutions adopt new mobile technologies to remain efficient and competitive. The CitiDirect BE® Mobile App, coupled with biometric authentication capability, now enables clients to manage their institutional banking needs anytime and anywhere," said Keng-Mun Lee, Asia Pacific Head of Channel and Enterprise Services, Treasury and Trade Solutions.

Commenting on the client experience, Capgemini India Treasury Director Saravanan Sokkalingam said, "Citi has brought a user experience akin to consumer banking to corporate clients with the necessary security features in place. This has enabled me to seamlessly approve transactions with added convenience."

Shakira Suwan, CEO of The Green Lion in Thailand added, "I appreciate being able to authorize transactions in seconds. The biometric authentication feature is easy to use and the CitiDirect BE® Mobile App is clear and simple."

Institutional clients are increasingly embracing mobile. In 2018, Citi saw a 20 percent year-on-year increase in the number of mobile users on Citi Direct BE® in Asia Pacific. Over the past two years, over US$2.5 trillion of payments processed by Citi's Treasury & Trade Solutions business in the region were approved using mobile devices.

CitiDirect BE® is available in 95 countries worldwide, across 26 languages and over 135 currencies. The platform provides a single point of access for institutional clients to Citi's full range of global cash, trade, liquidity and investment services.

In early 2019, the platform was ranked first in Greenwich Associates' Digital Benchmarking study for the 13th consecutive year.

Note: Further insights on mobile banking adoption by institutions are available in a Citi whitepaper titled "Time to Go Mobile: Institutions Must Embrace Banking 'Anytime, Anywhere' to Remain Competitive." The paper is accessible here.

Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

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CitiDirect BE®
CitiDirect BE® and CitiConnect® are a part of Citi's Treasury and Trade Solutions' award winning digital banking product suite. CitiDirect BE® is Citi's institutional digital banking platform available online, as well as on mobile and tablet devices. CitiDirect BE® also offers biometrics, world class security and controls, as well as machine learning.

Citi's Treasury and Trade Solutions
Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) enables our clients' success by providing an integrated suite of innovative and tailored cash management and trade finance services to multinational corporations, financial institutions and public sector organizations across the globe. Based on the foundation of the industry's largest proprietary network with banking licenses in over 90 countries and globally integrated technology platforms, TTS continues to lead the way in offering the industry's most comprehensive range of digitally enabled treasury, trade and liquidity management solutions.

Media Contact
Harsha Jethnani, Asia Pacific Corporate Affairs
harsha.jethnani@citi.com
852 – 2868 7738