Citi announced its intention to meet the working capital needs of commercial clients as part of its activities.
Last Wednesday, July 19, the financial institution announced the launch of the eLoans solution. This lender program is designed to provide tools for trading and raising capital. The new solution of the financial institution is focused on commercial clients in the USA.
The press release of the financial corporation contains information that the eLoans platform provides consumers with access to liquidity and reduces the scale of interaction in the format of manual processes. Also in this case, customers have the opportunity to manage loans for which payment has not been made in full, using the repayment functions.
Christian MacDonald, the bank’s global head of working capital lending in treasury and trading solutions, says that the integration of digital solutions into corporate market segments is evidence that a financial institution can help consumers overcome the difficulties that arise when processing transactions and significantly improve their experience of interacting with a lender.
Currently, there is a situation in which it is becoming increasingly difficult for enterprises, especially those that belong to the category of small businesses, to access credit funds. This trend is because financial institutions are beginning to exercise maximum caution in providing appropriate services.
Against the background of the difficult state of affairs, some small and medium-sized businesses began to solve financial issues by alternative means, including applying for capital to customers by selling bonds to local communities and end consumers. This practice is referred to as regulated crowdfunding. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved these actions. There are special platforms to facilitate the process of regulated crowdfunding, among which, for example, Honeycomb Credit and Mainvest.
Experts say that the demand for alternative credit channels, which can reasonably be characterized as hyperlocalized, confirms the need for borrowing funds at the community level and is a way to monetize the reputation of firms.
Industry research suggests that currently 40% of small and medium-sized enterprises in the United States are concerned about inflation. Also, 15% of representatives of this commercial sphere said that they are worried about the prospect of a decrease in income. Almost 50% of small and medium-sized enterprises intend to increase the volume of loans. At the same time, 34% of respondents said that they had not borrowed money before, but plan to do so shortly.
As we have reported earlier, Citi Debuts Digital Platform for Commercial Banking Customers.
