Awards for Excellence 2005
Citigroup
Citi excels internationally, and a new web-based application is keeping the firm ahead of its rivals
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| Paul Galant |
"When we finally showed TreasuryVision to the client, we were ready for them to shoot lots of technical questions at us. But their first question was to each other: 'Why do we have so much money on deposit in that country, and such a large overdraft in this one?'"
So explains Gary Greenwald, the man in Citigroup's cash management division responsible for building TreasuryVision. In short, it's a web-based application that consolidates data on a company's cashflows. There's nothing new there, one might think, but according to Paul Galant, Citi's global head of cash management, it's not the usual data system. "Most systems are very adept at telling you yesterday's weather. What TreasuryVision gives you is actionable advice."
It is this product, above all else, that seals the cash management award for Citigroup. The US bank was a strong contender anyway. Its non-US business is rivalled in scope only by Deutsche Bank, though both HSBC and JPMorgan Chase can legitimately claim that they are improving and expanding their global offering, and at times giving Citi more than a run for its money.