Citibank launches Bill Discounting and Trade Financing Facilities

Cheque/Bill Discounting involves discounting future receivables up to 80% of the value of the receivable for a maximum period of 90 days, while Trade Financing involves issuance of guarantees and letters of credit for active SME traders.

Both products are backed up by a team of seasoned relationship managers who immediately act upon a client's need for the issuance of customized trade documents, or for further credit to a trade finance account.

Both products fall under the Local Commercial Bank - which offers a basket of business and financial solutions for companies based in the UAE. These products specially cater to the needs of trading companies seeking ready funds in order to optimize cash flows in their trade transactions.

"The Small & Mid Corporate banking is one of the growth engines for Citibank and we aim to help facilitate the development of this segment. Our successful consumer platform, where we have a robust Cards, Wealth Management and Loans business will be entwined with the Small & Mid Corporate program through the Local Commercial Bank. With this unique blended offering, our customers will have the access to a fully diversified global franchise,"

said Sanjoy Sen, Citibank's Consumer Bank Head - Middle East.

These additions to the product suite further augment the lending proposition with an already well-entrenched cash management platform available for clients. Each client is managed by a Relationship Manager and additionally, a dedicated service team assists clients with their day-to-day transaction needs. Furthermore, Citi's international network provides the tools needed to assist clients to be more competitive both locally and in the global market.

Satyajeet Roy, Local Commercial Bank Head, said, "We continue to view the UAE market as a regional hub serving the Gulf and Levant region, not to mention the local market, which is fast expanding and becoming more sophisticated. We realize that the Small & Mid Corporate segment is one of the most under-served segment, therefore, and in line with our stated objective, it was only natural to add the Cheque/Bill Discounting & Trade Finance products. The introduction of these products, which come with 'value-loaded' benefits, will help build a stronger partnership with our clients."

"Despite a difficult credit risk environment, offering these new facilities to clients provide comfort because of underlying trade involved and the inherent business motive versus plain vanilla loans wherein end-use monitoring is difficult," added Lenka Pivonkova, Risk Head for Local Commercial Bank.

Citi has been in the Middle East for nearly 50 years and currently offers consumer-banking services in the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. In the UAE alone, Citibank, the consumer banking arm of Citi, has had a presence for the past 45 years and is expanding its major operations within the country. The bank is currently a major player in the UAE's credit card market and a leading provider of Wealth Management, SME Banking, and Consumer Credit services.