Citibank Offers E-business Solution in Philippines

Citibank has launched a program to offer e-business solutions to corporate customers looking for a single automated system to manage and complete online business transactions.

"We are following where the market is heading," said Jaime Nasol, CitiCommerce product manager. "Internet usage has been increasing and more transactions are being done in a paperless manner. Right after Year 2000, we believe companies will take advantage of the growing demand for Internet products."

With CitiCommerce.com, businesses can improve communications with partners and cut short the transaction cycle. The browser-based system can be integrated into companies' existing business management systems and can be used as a closed network of buyers and sellers, Nasol said.

CitiCommerce.com provides facilities for online product orders, order status monitoring, settlement and reconciliation.

"It offers businesses real-time management information where they can post electronic catalogs, do Internet billing and allow their clients real-time tracking of their order status," said Nasol.

For companies who want to migrate from traditional systems to automated solutions, Nasol said Citibank will integrate the system into their own Web site or, if they don't have one, customers will be given space in the CitiCommerce portal.

"We will develop an e-business site for each customer. We have talked with potential customers and their feedback is that they want customized solutions for their site," he said.

Customers may choose who they want to log into their Web sites and then advise Citibank of their client list. Citibank will then provide a logon number to customers' clients using a pre-enrolled smart card security system so they can enter the customer's trading network. On the host side, CitiCommerce uses the Verisign certificate which provides 128-bit triple DES (data encryption standard) security.

Nasol said that potential customers said an online payment system is necessary for e-business services, which will be the next enhancement for CitiCommerce.

At this stage, Nasol said, CitiCommerce has one customer which is serving as a pilot site.