24 Feb 2016 10:30
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has announced an enhanced agreement with Citi as its international cash management bank partner.
The
new mandate, covering Etihad Airways' worldwide operations outside the GCC, will
enable the airline to leverage Citi’s substantial investment in financial
technology to further develop its cash management operations and help reduce
costs.
Etihad
Airways will now be able to utilise Citi’s Liquidity Management solution to
achieve substantial cash optimisation and competitive market rates through
automated treasury tools, resulting in significant transaction cost savings.
Citi's
cash management solution rationalises account opening processes and moves the Abu
Dhabi-based carrier to a fully automated and centralised account
administration, and automated account payable and account receivable management
tools to achieve better control and minimise transactional risks.
The enhanced
partnership comes a year after the signing of an innovative Supply Chain
Finance (SCF) agreement between Etihad Airways and Citi enabling the airline to
unlock liquidity and pay its suppliers almost immediately through funding
provided by the bank.
James Rigney, Etihad Airways Chief Financial Officer,
said: “We are delighted to have entered into this agreement with Citi which is
designed to drive more cost benefits for our business on a global level. As Etihad
Airways continues to grow, this partnership will help bring about greater
economies of scale, increased operational efficiency, enhanced financial
procedures and immediate solutions to local needs across our worldwide
operations.”
Emre Karter, Managing Director and
Regional Head – Treasury & Trade Solutions (Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan
& Turkey), said: “At Citi, we value
our strategic alliance with Etihad Airways which is one of the world’s fastest
growing airlines, and we're proud to provide global cash management services
that meet the exact needs of the carrier.
This is demonstrative of our ability to offer clients worldwide, local
and regional solutions with global service standards.”
Citi
has been present in the Middle East and North Africa since 1955, and offers
full scale corporate and investment banking services in Egypt, UAE, Bahrain,
Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan and Iraq.
Citi's institutional capabilities in the region include Treasury & Trade
Solutions, Corporate & Investment Banking, Capital Markets Origination,
Global Markets and Islamic Banking.