Amid fierce competition, Citi’s services franchise has leveraged a decades-long presence in Gulf markets and an unmatched global network to support banks with cutting-edge correspondent banking and trade finance offerings.
The bank’s achievements during the year – from product rollouts to deepening regional partnerships – underline a strategic focus on the Middle East.
“If you’re on the ground, if you know your clients, if you know your partners, you can observe the trends, be part of the trends and also shape them,” says Emre Umut, Citi’s head of financial institutions sales for the Middle East and Africa. He credits Citi’s embedded presence as key to building client trust and delivering tailored services to regional financial institutions.
Always-on payments experience
One of Citi’s headline innovations has been its always-on US dollar clearing network. In 2024, Citi enabled Emirates NBD to offer 24/7 US dollar cross-border payments, marking the first such implementation in the Middle East. This allowed banks in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to eliminate time-zone and cut-off limitations. The model quickly expanded across the region, including Bahrain and Qatar.
“Payments can enable or hinder business success. That is why our clients need a frictionless, digital, always-on payments experience,” explains Umut. “When we enabled 24/7 clearing, we had to modernise our payment stack, ensure the availability of most demanded payment corridors and types.”
Middle East is leading the pack. Our clients see the value in becoming more integrated globally, eliminating timing differences and other barriers
Emre Umut
In Qatar, Citi’s infrastructure allowed Commercial Bank to become the first local bank to offer 24/7 US dollar transfers. National Bank of Bahrain joined the network, too. These deployments gave banks a competitive edge in delivering continuous payment services to their clients, many of whom operate across time zones and during different working weeks.
Umut notes that regional adoption has been extraordinary. “Middle East is leading the pack. Our clients see the value in becoming more integrated globally, eliminating timing differences and other barriers.”
Becoming a global connector
Beyond payments, Citi’s trade finance platform also played a key role in 2024. Citi’s longstanding presence in trade finance continues to benefit regional banks looking to support clients beyond their borders. In markets such as the UAE and Qatar, local financial institutions have leaned on Citi’s ability to confirm letters of credit and act as a correspondent in complex cross-border deals.
“Beyond bringing to the table our global services and solutions, we also bring our network,” adds Umut. “We give our FI clients access to parts of the world which traditionally they wouldn’t have access to.”
As regional trade and capital flows become more global, many Middle Eastern banks are leaning on Citi to help them navigate regulatory and operational hurdles in cross-border activity. “We co-create with FI clients to help them adapt to unique regional scenarios, bringing global thinking and diverse experience to support the Middle East’s increasingly international ambitions,” says Umut.
Looking ahead, Umut expects the pace of innovation to accelerate. “24/7 US dollar clearing is just the start,” he says. “Cross-border and cross-currency flows will keep expanding. ISO 20022 will enable better data processing, more advanced risk management and reporting, all of which are essential for this region.”
He is also optimistic about the region’s ability to stay ahead of global trends. “Stablecoins, tokenised deposits, digital assets – these will remain key areas of interest,” he adds. “Regulators here are forward-looking and open to what’s next.”
Umut says Citi’s multifaceted approach to transaction banking is designed to support a broad spectrum of clients and help them adapt to rapid change. “We are proud to be relevant to our clients and it is very exciting to be here, in this part of the world, at this time,” he concludes.
