The provision of transaction services in the Middle East has become one of the most fiercely competitive parts of the market, largely concentrated around a banks’ ability to bank local and regional champions as well as blue-chip multinationals operating in the region.
Some banks are better at servicing one type of client, but others can fully service both national and international firms, providing them with the quality and range of transaction services that enable these companies to thrive intra-regionally and globally.
Among those banks that does this best, Citi is the firm to beat in the region – it not only serves close to 1,100 multinationals actively operating in the Middle East, but over 400 of the region’s corporate and financial-institution champions.
Part of Citi’s strength is its long-held physical presence in the region – Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and the UAE – combined with a comprehensive transaction-service offering across cash and liquidity management (covering payments, collections and connectivity), trade (spanning documentary services and working-capital trade loans, to supply-chain solutions, sales, receivables financing and bespoke, structured trade solutions), and commercial cards (including purchasing, travel and entertainment, and virtual cards).
Such