Citigroup has announced it successfully completed its first instant international dollar payment involving a partner bank, marking a significant step in cross-border financial transactions.
The transaction was carried out by Phillip Securities Thailand, a client of Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank. The company moved funds instantly in U.S. dollars from a Citigroup account located in the United Kingdom to a Siam Commercial Bank account in Thailand — all during the U.S. July 4th holiday weekend, according to a statement from Citigroup.
Siam Commercial Bank is one of approximately 300 financial institutions that have been connected to Citi’s international instant payments network, which is designed to serve multinational clients through Citi’s Services division.
Debopama Sen, Citi’s Head of Payments, noted that she is seeing increased interest from clients in making instant international transfers between accounts held at different banks.
Within Citigroup’s own network, instant international transfers between company accounts already total around $1 billion every single day.
