Citi continues to be a champion for digital payments in the Philippines.
Citi processes over P100 billion a month in outgoing payments under PESONet, which has over 100 participating institutions. Citi ranks #1 in PESONet in terms of outgoing payment value. Supporting the transition to digital payments, Citi provides differentiated domestic payments services across different areas providing security, efficiency, and simplification.
Deven Somaya, Asean and Singapore Treasury and Trade Solutions Head (Interim) at Citi, was in the Philippines to participate in the SWIFT(Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) sponsored SwiftGo industry event held in August.
The event was participated in by SWIFT experts and finance industry colleagues who engaged in a discussion of topics around payments and impact on businesses.
SwiftGo is a capability that Citi subscribes to which allows small value payments to be transferred cross-border in a seamless and frictionless manner.
According to Somaya, the miniaturization of payments and corresponding increase in payment volumes continues to be a driving trend in the evolution of digital payments.
“To support clients’ needs for future commerce, banks have to be able to move money and facilitate transactions in close to real-time while ensuring security. To do so, Citi ontinues to make investments in our digital payment capabilities, including expanding our network to include alternate payment methods like mobile wallets and local instant payment schemes,” Somaya said.
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Citi’s Payment Outlier Detection tool identifies payment outliers, ensuring tighter controls in payment initiation. Simplifying operations, in the Philippines, clients who avail of digital payments solutions may request for electronic generation of creditable withholding tax to be submitted to the beneficiary, who can in turn leverage the documentation to substantiate its own tax returns.
Using PESONet, clients can also avail of physical collection of Official Receipts (OR), encouraging a seamless shift from paper-based check payments to digital payments when paying suppliers.
