Citi Launches Institutional Token Services

Citi aims to offer token services in the form of digital coins, to improve its cash management and trade finance operations.

According to an emailed statement, Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) has launched the creation and pilot of Citi Token Services. The US lender will offer tokenized deposits – effectively transferable digital coins that act as claims against the bank – to support institutional clients’ cash management and trade finance needs.

The development of Citi Token Services is part of our journey to deliver real-time, always-on, next-generation transaction banking services to our institutional clients, said global head of services Shahmir Khaliq.

Previously, Citi partnered with shipping giant Maersk and an unnamed canal authority to digitize a solution that serves the same purpose as bank guarantees and letters of credit in the trade finance ecosystem.

We are pleased to have collaborated with Citi in the successful test pilots for the guarantee solution using digitized tokens and smart contracts. The innovative solution has promising applications for trade finance, said Marie-Laure Martin, regional treasury manager for the Americas at Maersk.