Citigroup (C) Expands Cash Management Product Suite in Europe
Citigroup Inc. C has expanded the availability of its cash management solution, Cross-Currency Sweeps, across 14 additional Europe markets, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal and Austria.
The solution banks on Citigroup’s global cash concentration network and foreign exchange (FX) capabilities to help treasurers and finance teams manage FX and cash positions across multiple accounts, countries and currencies, using a single streamlined and automated solution. It also offers users to immediately convert available liquidity into any currency of their choice.
Cross-Currency Sweeps also eliminates the need for local currency accounts to be pre-funded for FX dealings and allows same-day fund settlements in any required currency on an intraday basis. Such features offer clients a wide range of cash management services, making transfers between accounts seamless and enabling them to achieve optimized liquidity across their global banking structure.
Management noted, “As technology has evolved, we are helping our clients to automate processes, using efficient, integrated and seamless strategies to provide transparent liquidity and FX activities. Citi Cross-Currency Sweeps brings together the power of our liquidity and FX technologies to help our clients automate their day-to-day activities, so that they can stay focused on creating smart treasuries of the future, today.”
Per management, inefficiencies to manage liquidity in multiple currencies may result in excess cash buffers and operational challenges. Hence, Cross-Currency Sweeps aids clients to optimize efficiency and liquidity by automating and streamlining multiple steps into one.
At a recent conference, Citigroup underlined its capital allocation strategy to invest in businesses like treasury and trade solutions, commercial banking and security services, which generate returns higher than the company’s cost of capital. Hence, the expansion of the cash management solution will likely result in higher client onboarding and drive revenue growth in the upcoming period.
Shares of Citigroup have inched up 0.7% in the year-to-date period, underperforming the industry’s rally of 33.2%.
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The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the banking space are Shore Bancshares SHBI, Southern First Bancshares SFST and Colony Bankcorp, Inc. CBAN. At present, SHBI, SFST and CBAN carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
In the year-to-date period, the stock of Shore Bancshares has jumped 36.1%, whereas shares of Southern First and Colony Bankcorp have gained 66.4% and 20.3%, respectively.
Over the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Shore Bancshares’ current-year earnings has been revised 21.7% upward, while that for Southern First has moved 9.1% north. Current-year earnings estimates for Colony Bankcorp have moved up 15.2% over the past two months.
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