Citi unveils Citi Digital Bill, a new trade finance solution

By Gloria Mathias

Citi has launched Citi Digital Bill (CDB), a new integrated digital bill discounting solution that makes centuries-old practices future-ready.

CDB significantly reduces complexity by eliminating the need for physical documents and couriers and the movement of paper across multiple parties in different geographies. For sellers, CDB provides a faster, more transparent way to manage receivables, reducing the time for monetising receivables from a week to less than an hour.

“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,” said Sanjeev Ganjoo, Global Head of Trade Receivable Finance, at Citi Services. “Citi Digital Bill is a testimony to our digital-first approach to enhancing trade finance solutions. By effectively leveraging the power of technology, we continue to create substantial value for our clients through increased speed and transparency.”

This new solution is an alternative to traditional paper-based Bills of Exchange (BoE) with a comprehensive end-to-end digital platform. It streamlines and digitises the flows within Citi’s proprietary receivables finance platform, CitiDirect.

CDB enables parties to a digital bill (seller, buyer, and Citi) to sign, accept, endorse, and finance the digital bill in CitiDirect, thereby removing historical challenges such as fragmented, manual processes, operational risks of collecting and safekeeping paper documents, and delays in access to working capital. CDB unlocks the potential for quicker monetisation of receivables while bringing clarity and transparency for both sellers and buyers.

For buyers, CDB enables them to gain visibility into the status of invoice approvals and access to digital bills at any time, leading to better transaction tracking and management. It also connects buyers with key relationship banks efficiently, enhancing risk matching. This new digital solution makes it easy for clients to transition to the new system without major disruptions.