Citi brings game-changing digital solutions to wealth management and institutional banking
Cross-sector collaboration among key players in the fintech ecosystem is transforming the client experience
Technology has long played a role in banking, but the speed and breadth of innovations are transforming the sector at an unprecedented rate. Fintech – or financial technology – is enabling banks to better serve clients.
“We engage with fintechs in many different ways and have been partnering with various companies to deliver a better client experience,” says Aveline San, CEO and head of banking, Citi Hong Kong and Macau. “Fintechs help advance technology, offering better products and solutions to our clients.”
As part of its strategy to catalyse innovation in the sector, Citi invests in fintech start-ups under its Citi Ventures arm, utilising the bank’s global network of investors, tech buyers and business advisers to help them build to scale.
Citi Ventures has built a portfolio of 115 start-ups across seven focus areas, including distributed ledger technology and digital assets, future of commerce, and artificial intelligence (AI) and data. “With offices around the world, we can scan the different technologies and introduce them to our stakeholders. A lot of our banking clients prosper in that ecosystem by learning more about these technology companies,” San says.
“We are part of the ecosystem and want to support fintechs,” she adds. “We take them on board as clients, helping them with financing and services to further their growth. We also collaborate with industry associations, regulators and the government, bringing stakeholders together to facilitate the healthy development of the fintech ecosystem. We can help narrow the gap between demand and supply in product design so that the best solutions are built by the fintechs who understand the banking sector’s needs. The more of these collaborations we foster, the more the industry prospers.”
San points to Citi’s Wealth 360, a management tool on the bank’s mobile app as an example of how cross-sector collaboration can transform the consumer experience. Through the Interbank Account Data Sharing (IADS) pilot programme introduced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority earlier this year, Wealth 360 offers interbank information on cash flow, spending patterns and even a calculation of carbon footprint based on credit card usage.
