Through the mobile site, commercial cardholders can check out recent account activity and their balances. The latest mobile effort is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to accommodate on-the-go consumers.

“Our strategy is to support the growing need within the Commercial Card industry for on-the-go capability, across the globe and in a multitude of languages – over 20 languages actually,” said Paul Horn, managing director and global product manager at Citi Commercial Cards.

“With technology development and adoption growing exponentially, people have quickly adapted to sending emails, text messages and viewing information on their everyday mobile phones,” he said. “With global travel and the expectation for instantaneous communication a normal part of business, businesses need a way to communicate from any location – whether that’s a train station, airport, or even a site dig for an oil refinery.

“Recognizing this, we adapted to the needs of our clients and created a mobile capability that allows our cardholders to manage their account information wherever they are, whenever they want. And we intend to continue to build our capabilities in this area. We recognize our society is not built on brick and mortar, but on technical frequencies and highly sophisticated – and portable – devices. Therefore, that’s where Citi will be available for our customers – through sophisticated, portable, mobile devices.”

Banking accessibility
The CitiManager mobile site is accessible in 22 languages.

Once cardholders log-in, they can select which Citi account to view before navigating to their account, statement and new transaction details.

Additionally, for U.S. companies, Citi has enabled cardholders to pay outstanding balances on their Citi Commercial Card accounts via CitiManager Mobile.

The payment feature lets cardholders view their current balance and their balance due, select the bank account from which they would like to pay their bills and pay any amount up to the balance due.

“We are sharing our newest capability to our clients directly, and within the industry, at conferences, events, and other like forums,” Mr. Horn said. “But of course, as it’s a mobile site, we are also using mobile tools to educate our clients and others.

“From alerts within the CitiManager desktop version to links on our Citi Commercial Card website, we have actively shared our www.citimanager.com/mobile site,” he said. “We even created a QR which we may use at future conferences for tech-savvy individuals to quickly access the site link with a quick snap of a picture.

“We encourage anyone who is interested in hearing more about our CitiManager Mobile site to contact us and we’re happy to provide greater detail on what cardholders’ around the world can now do in a few minutes with the ease of their mobile device.

Past efforts
Citi is not stranger when it comes to mobile banking.

Last year, Citi expanded its mobile repertoire with the launch of a Kindle Fire application that lets consumers track, analyze and plan their finances (see story).

Most recently, the financial institution rolled out its iPad application internationally to reach new groups of consumers and show them how mobile banking works (see story).

“Mobile is one item amongst many we are focusing on as part of a broader, overall digital strategy,” Mr. Horn said. “In addition to our CitiManager Mobile site, we have also launched over 30 global email and SMS alerts in 17 languages, and we have actively invested in on-line capabilities with a goal to eliminate all paper application processing and statement generation.

“Our move away from paper in favor of on-line offerings, is not only better for the environment, but it is also a better match to our clients’ desires,” he said. “Currently, over 60 percent of business travelers have a smartphone and take it on business. In the US alone, smartphone ownership is up 40 percent over last year and mobile payments is anticipating an average annual growth of 70 percent over next 3 years, reaching an estimated $170 billion in volume in 2015.

“Given these growth figures in mobile adoption and comfort with mobile payments, we see the value in continuing to build our digital strategy.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York