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Ever wonder how a massive company like Coca-Cola or a tech giant actually moves money across a hundred different borders without losing their minds? It isn't just about having a bank account. It is about a massive, invisible engine called Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS).
Honestly, if you've ever tried to send money to a relative in another country and got hit with a $40 fee and a three-day wait, you know the pain. Now imagine doing that ten thousand times a day in ninety different currencies. That is the world Citi TTS lives in. They are basically the "crown jewel" of Citigroup, a phrase CEO Jane Fraser loves to use. And for good reason. In 2025 alone, their services business—which is largely driven by TTS—raked in about **$21 billion in revenue**.
It’s huge. It’s complex. But it's also changing faster than most people realize.
What Most People Get Wrong About Citi TTS
Most people think "treasury services" is just a fancy term for a corporate checking account. Not even close.
Think of Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions as a high-tech nervous system for a global business. It isn't just holding cash; it's about liquidity management. If a company has $50 million sitting idle in a Japanese bank account and needs to pay workers in Brazil, TTS is the software and the network that makes that happen instantly.
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We are talking about:
- Payments and Receivables: Getting money in and out without the "plumbing" breaking.
- Liquidity Management: Making sure money isn't just sitting there being lazy.
- Working Capital: Helping companies borrow against their own invoices so they can keep the lights on while waiting for customers to pay.
The big differentiator? Citi has people on the ground in over 90 countries. They aren't just using other banks' networks; they own the pipes.
Why Real-Time Is the New Obsession
We live in a world where you can get a pizza delivered in 30 minutes, yet global business payments used to take days. That is finally dying.
Shahmir Khaliq, the Head of Services at Citi, has been pushing this "24/7" agenda hard. In early 2026, the talk isn't just about "fast" payments—it’s about programmable money.
Citi Token Services
This sounds like "crypto" nonsense, but it’s actually very practical. Citi has been testing something called Citi Token Services. It uses blockchain (the private, boring kind, not the "to the moon" kind) to turn deposits into digital tokens.
Why? Because if you tokenise a deposit, you can move it at 3 AM on a Sunday. No "bank hours." No waiting for a clerk in London to wake up so they can approve a transfer to New York. In recent pilots, they’ve managed to settle cross-border transactions in under 90 seconds.
That’s a game-changer for a shipping company that needs to release cargo at a port the moment a payment hits. No more ships sitting idle in the harbor for 48 hours because of a "bank holiday."
The War with Fintechs
For a while, everyone thought startups like Revolut or Wise would eat the big banks' lunch. And yeah, they did take a bite out of the smaller stuff.
But Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions has been fighting back by acting more like a tech company. They've retired hundreds of legacy "dinosaur" applications over the last two years. As of early 2026, over 80% of their transformation programs are finished.
They are also doing something clever: they’re making fintechs their customers. If a new payment app wants to offer "global reach," they often end up plugging into Citi’s API. It's a "if you can’t beat ‘em, charge ‘em for the plumbing" strategy.
The ESG Twist: More Than Just Greenwashing?
You can't talk about corporate finance in 2026 without mentioning ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance).
Citi has started linking supply chain finance to sustainability goals. Basically, if a supplier can prove they’re reducing their carbon footprint or treating workers better, Citi gives them a lower interest rate on their financing.
It’s a "carrot" approach. It isn't just about being "nice"; it's about risk. Companies with messy, unethical supply chains are a liability. By using TTS to track these metrics, Citi is trying to make the entire global trade machine a bit less destructive.
Breaking Down the Tech Stack
If you look under the hood of what they're doing right now, it’s all about three things:
- APIs: Letting a company’s ERP (like SAP or Oracle) talk directly to the bank.
- AI Agents: Using "generative AI" to spot fraud or errors in millions of payments before they happen.
- ISO 20022: This is the new global "language" for payments. It allows for way more data to be attached to a transfer. Instead of just "Payment from X," it can include the full invoice, the tax details, and the shipping number.
What This Means for Your Business Strategy
If you're a CFO or a treasury manager, the old way of "managing cash" is becoming obsolete.
The "Goldilocks" economy of early 2026—not too hot, not too cold—means you can't afford to have "trapped cash" in some remote jurisdiction. You need visibility. You need to know exactly where every dollar is, in real-time, on a single dashboard.
Actionable Insights for 2026:
- Audit your "Idleness": If your cash takes more than 24 hours to move between regions, you're losing money on the interest "float." Demand real-time rails.
- Embrace the API: Stop using manual portals. If your treasury team is still uploading .CSV files, you’re living in 2015. Move to direct API integration with your banking partner.
- Tokenisation is Real: Start looking at how tokenised deposits could simplify your specific "stuck" points, like collateral management or escrow.
- Check the ESG Discount: Ask your bank if your sustainability reporting can actually lower your borrowing costs. The money is there; you just have to prove you deserve it.
The reality is that Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions isn't just a bank department anymore. It's a software platform that happens to have a banking license. Whether you use them or a competitor like JP Morgan or HSBC, the benchmark has moved. "Real-time" is no longer a luxury—it’s the baseline.