Citi Unveils Integrated Payments and Billing Platform

Citi says it has integrated its Spring eCommerce and B2B digital payments services with Present and Pay, its electronic bill present platform.

According to a Monday (Oct. 24) news release, the move creates a single platform for digital payment acceptance and electronic bill presentment in one integrated platform.

The new solution lets Citi’s institutional clients collect payments across a range of U.S. payment methods, and while also providing “world-class digital billing capabilities through a single contracting structure” with Citi and one technical integration, per the release.

“For many companies, the ability to offer their customers a fully digital billing experience can be very complex; requiring various third parties, and it is often expensive to migrate away from using manual, time-intensive paper-based processes,” Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions North America Payments and Receivables Head Anupam Sinha said in the release.

In related news, Citi announced Monday that it had added Walmart as a Shop With Points partner for its ThankYou Rewards program. It marks the latest in a series of corporate rewards partnerships for Citi ThankYou card members, Citi said in a press release emailed to PYMNTS.

Citi card members can now use Shop With Points as a payment option when checking out in-store at over 4,700 Walmart locations, with points eligible for redemption on at least $10 orders of Walmart groceries, toys, electronics and more.

Read more: Citi Adds Walmart as Latest ‘Shop With Points’ Partner

Walmart joins a number of big eCommerce and retail brands as an eligible Shop With Points rewards partner, including 1-800 Flowers, Shell, Best Buy, CVS, and PayPal.

Earlier this month, in a move designed to meet the rising demand for real-time treasury management, Citi launched a cash concentration capability that automatically transfers funds seven days a week.

Dubbed 7-Day Sweeps, this offering for institutional clients eliminates the need for these customers to manually transfer funds on weekends and holidays when automated sweeping traditionally isn’t done.

“With a growing number of companies running their businesses 24X7, we’ve seen an increase in the demand for seven-day sweeps, particularly among fast-moving, high-growth technology and eCommerce companies,” Michael Berkowitz, global and North America head of product management, liquidity management services with Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS), said in the release.

Citi added that this trend is being fueled by consumer behavior, instant payments and new eBusiness models.