Feature report leadership, an example being the creation of Citi’s Innovation Labs in San Francisco, Dublin and Singapore, and software production studios in Miami and Singapore. As Albert Einstein once said: “If I had 60 minutes to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes defining it and five minutes solving it.” Einstein’s quote reflects the spirit of Citi’s technology innovation process. At Citi Innovation Labs we bring together clients, product teams and technology experts to define the needs and examine the aspirations and behaviours of those for whom these solutions are being designed. This is how CitiDirect BE Tablet and BE Mobile came to fruition. We first focused on the problem through intensive research, then explored possible solutions, developed a prototype and finally pilot-tested and scaled the solution. It’s not enough simply to have a smart idea. Success is determined by how well that idea is executed, which in turn depends on how smartly and thoroughly the problem was originally defined. Case in point is ‘going mobile.’ Many financial institutions have simply tried to emulate the online banking experience by copying it to a mobile device. However, Citi’s research showed users didn’t want this. They didn’t need the full functionality of online banking, they just wanted easy (and secure) access to a few ‘Must Have’ features while away from the office.
Mobile executives don’t need full online banking functionality – they want easy (and secure) access to a few ‘Must Have’ features while away from the office These ‘Must Have’ mobile features include the ability to perform activities such as accessing account balances and the status of transactions, authorizing and releasing payments, initiating pre-formatted payments for domestic and international fund transfers, and receiving event notifications. But it goes further than that. It’s not as simple as developing a single mobile solution. Smart phones and tablets demand different applicationdevelopment models and present different opportunities to customize the
user experience. CitiDirect BE Mobile for smart phone for example looks and feels different from the tablet version and offers quite different functionality. Major corporations around the world, including many in Canada, are adopting CitiDirect BE to manage accounts and transactions globally. For example, a financial clerk in Toronto can enter a series of payments into CitiDirect BE for the purchase of heavy machinery in Chile, then submit them for approval to the regional treasurer in Vancouver. The treasurer, while on a business trip to India, can review and authorize the payments using a mobile phone, only hours after they were entered. Meanwhile it’s morning in London, where the CFO is preparing for the CEO’s weekly management meeting. From the boardroom, the CFO can use CitiDirect BE Tablet to quickly check the company’s global cash position and see that the series of payments have been made in Chile. With a few taps he (or she) can drill down on a map or graph to see the resulting balances and then subsequently confirm the execution of the company’s strategy at the meeting. Canada is a world leader when it comes to the adoption of mobile banking functions in the corporate space. Last year, one of Citi’s clients – a Canadian gold mining company – was the largest single maker of payments from a handheld device anywhere in the world. This year, that company has once again made more than $1 billion in corporate treasury payments via Blackberry. This isn’t just a testament to Citi’s technologybased platform, but it also serves to underline the progressive thinking and willingness to adopt new approaches that is culturally engrained in corporate Canada. Recently I visited more than 20 clients at their head offices throughout Europe. Nowhere did I find the same level of openness to corporate treasury management and transaction initiation from the handheld device as I see from our Canadian clients. This type of up-to-the-minute business intelligence would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago now it’s set to become the norm. At the touch of a button, finance executives
and treasurers can get answers almost instantaneously to questions about market positions, currency risk, funding sources and operating needs, from almost anywhere around the world – the type of information that can often provide a competitive advantage. Significantly, some of the fastest growth in mobile services comes from countries where transactions were previously dominated by cash or where banking penetration has traditionally been low. In many of these countries, for example in Africa, Latin America and Asia, mobile technology is being used to leapfrog a generation of banking infrastructure. This is good news for Canadian companies doing business in these countries, where monitoring counterparty risk, liquidity, supply chain management and supply chain finance are part and parcel of the treasurer’s role, and where mobile banking technology simplifies this process. But Canada’s finance executives and treasurers can’t afford complacency. If they fail to embrace new mobile banking technology themselves, they may miss out on the benefits of dynamic business intelligence, streamlined payment processing, optimized working capital and improved risk management, and find themselves being leapfrogged by those who have ‘gone mobile’ and achieved that business edge. Right now, Canada is well placed to take advantage of new mobile technology. We have good penetration of tablets at the consumer and corporate level (26 percent of Canadians over 18 owned a tablet in Fall 20122) and a strong track record in m-commerce. With CitiDirect BE Tablet and Mobile now available in Canada, our corporate treasurers have the tools and expertise to take advantage of this brave new world of banking and cash management. About the Author: John Landry is the Head of Citi’s Global Transaction Services business in Canada. He is responsible for GTS’ team of professionals across Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary and their delivery of class-leading Fund Services, Custody, Cash Management and Trade Finance & Services. He was appointed President and CEO of Citibank Fund Services Corporation in November 2012. 1. Forecast: Devices by Operating System and User Type, Worldwide, 2010-2017, 1Q13 Update”, Gartner, March 28, 2013. 2. The Rise of Tablet Computers: CBC Media Technology Monitor, February 2013:
canadianequipmentfinance.com | November/December 2013 | CANADIAN EQUIPMENT FINANCE
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