Citigroup Enhances Commercial Card Offering through Custom Reporting System Which Enables Clients to Analyse Spending on Global Basis
Enhanced Reporting Tool Enables Clients to Analyze Spending on Global Basis
January 7, 2004, New York – Global Transaction Services, a unit of Citigroup, the premier global financial services company (NYSE:C) announced today a new commercial card feature for clients called the Citibank® Custom Reporting System. This proprietary Web-based electronic query tool allows multinational commercial card clients to analyze their corporate spending patterns with the commercial card on a global basis for the first time and on a level not previously realized. Citibank Commercial Cards offers card programs in 29 countries used by over one million corporate cardholders.
Clients can use the information gleaned from this enhanced business
intelligence tool to examine spending patterns, better negotiate
with vendors, enforce corporate policies and make more informed,
efficient business decisions. With the Citibank Custom Reporting
System, corporations can analyze commercial card data, create dynamic
queries with easy-to-use design wizards, customize detailed reports
and download report data into spreadsheet, database or word processing
formats. Standard reports provide purchasing information on a macro
level; however, clients can create custom, detailed reports on a
micro level as well to get more analytics.
Using the Custom Reporting System, clients can access the Citibank®
Global Data Repository, which consolidates commercial card client
transactions from Mastercard, Visa and other providers, as well
as enhanced data gathered from hotels, car rental agencies and airlines.
Enhanced data (known as Level III data), the most robust available
and often the most difficult to gather, contains information related
to specific commercial card transactions. Enhanced purchasing card
data includes product codes, quantity, shipping information, courier
details, multiple tax fields and more. For travel cards, Level III
data includes reservation numbers, airline itineraries and hotel
and car rental details. Citibank is currently working to include
more enhanced data in the reporting system.
For example, hotel expenditures typically represent approximately
22% of total T&E base of a corporation. With the anticipated
participation of hotel properties providing transaction data into
the global data repository, travel managers within the corporation
could use the Custom Reporting System to gain a better understanding
of its occupancy requirements and related costs at leading hotels.
This can lead to clients receiving better benefits from hotels,
such as priority upgrades at certain hotels.
This is the second major enhancement for commercial card clients
announced recently, following the Citibank® Global
Data Repository unveiled in April 2003. This Custom Reporting System
replaces the ad hoc reporting tool previously available to North
American clients. “Given this difficult economic climate,
we look for ways to allow our commercial card clients to save money.
We’re very pleased to be the only bankcard issuer of commercial
cards to provide this service on a global basis,” said Gary
Schneider, Global Business Manager for Citibank®
Commercial Cards. “While some issuers can provide information
on a country-by-country basis, our capability is global, broader
and deeper than any other out there. Used in conjunction with our
recently introduced global data repository, the Citibank Custom
Reporting System allows our commercial card clients to get access
to more analytics (as many as 400 data elements) at any point in
time.”
About Citigroup
Citigroup (NYSE: C), the preeminent global financial services company
with some 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries,
provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with
a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer
banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities
brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's
trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica,
Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity. Additional
information may be found at: www.citigroup.com.
About Citigroup Global Transaction Services
Citigroup Global Transaction Services is a leading provider of integrated
cash management, trade finance, securities services and commercial
card solutions to corporations, financial institutions and governments
around the world. The Citibank® Commercial Cards products –
Citibank® Corporate Card, Purchasing Card, One Card and Electronic
Account – deliver the industry’s most advanced and innovative
Web-based purchasing, payment, expense management and data integration
solutions for business-to-business transactions. Citigroup is the
largest bankcard issuer in the United States. For more information
on Citibank Commercial Cards, please visit www.citimanager.com.
