Citi: How 2020’s Challenges Have Highlighted The World’s Resilience

Citi

In A Look Forward: What Executives Wish for America and the World in 2021,Manish Kohli, global head of payments and receivables for Citi, discusses how his firm is leveraging its digital capabilities and global footprint to help its clients adapt rapidly to the evolving environment. “As we transition to a new year and a new environment, where the rollout of vaccinations globally begins to create a prospect of some stability, we must draw on the lessons of 2020 to build a more productive and prosperous world,” says Kohli.

COVID-19 has been an extraordinary test for governments, financial market infrastructures, banks, corporates and consumers around the world. While all prudent organizations have business continuity plans to enable them to function following unexpected events, few anticipated the potential scale of the pandemic or the far-reaching consequences it would have on companies’ supply chains, factories, offices and customers.

Now, with the benefit of nine months’ hindsight, it is worth reflecting on how the world quickly adapted to this unprecedented event. Governments, banks and companies around the world sprang into action almost overnight with the introduction of stimulus measures, lockdowns and remote working contingencies. The world’s resilience has been impressive. That resilience has two components. First is the strength of the connection and bonds that unite us across communities, countries, companies and business relationships. The willingness of people to go the extra mile to support those they care about has been edifying.

At Citi, we are proud to have played our part, helping clients achieve their objectives, safeguard their employees and protect their businesses in some of the toughest times we have ever seen. The second component is technology, which has been critical to addressing our challenges. Numerous developments that were previously underway — most notably the shift of our business and personal lives online — have dramatically accelerated. At Citi, our consistent investment in digitization and robust infrastructures has been invaluable in enabling our clients to switch to remote working with minimal to no disruption, and to help achieve visibility and control across their payments, collections and other treasury functions.

For 2021, as an industry, we must hope for the best while preparing for the worst. We will continue to enhance our resilience and prepare for a range of scenarios. With luck, this same level of resilience won’t be actively required. As we transition to a new year and a new environment, where the rollout of vaccinations globally begins to create a prospect of some stability, we must draw on the lessons of 2020 to build a more productive and prosperous world. No one underestimates the scale of the challenges we still face. But there is the potential for strong growth following the shock of COVID-19 and the firepower stimuli unleashed by governments and central banks around the world to combat its economic impact.

Moreover, as companies pivot to growth, they must harness the “can-do” spirit that defined 2020 and adopt a more open mindset and new digital tools for a post-pandemic world. At Citi, we can help clients adapt rapidly to this evolving environment because of our robust digital capabilities, capacity to innovate and global footprint. Whether implementing digital collections, enabling cross-border receivables or facilitating cross-border instant payments, our vision is always to deliver simple, global and digital solutions to our clients. That vision is more important than ever as we all work toward the common goal of driving economic growth.