UK fintech Kantox partners with Citi Bank for FX solution
Foreign exchange (FX) and payments solution fintech Kantox has announced it is partnering with Citi Commercial Bank to deliver it a “customised solution” for its FX clients, integrating directly with Citi’s foreign currency payments platform.
Kantox co-founders Antonio Rami, Philippe Gelis and John Carbajal
With treasury automation for local and cross-border payments already built in, Citi may also be looking to add more automation features to its Kantox toolkit going forward, such as dynamic hedging.
“Citi is tech-minded and we see this partnership as further confirmation of a global trend of cooperation between banks and fintechs,” says Kantox’s CEO Philippe Gelis, who looks forward to easing the IT burden of FX management for Citi.
Read more: UK regulations push SVB further towards automation, partners with Kantox
The software partnership is part of Citi’s D10X program. The initiative enables employees “to bring forward ideas, test them with clients and understand if they’re viable in the market and solve a client pain point,” Citi’s CIO Vanessa Colella told American Banker back in 2017.
Citi’s FX product with Kantox is currently being pilot-tested with “a select group” of Citi’s commercial clients in the US, with plans to launch the standard solution in 2020.
“As our clients’ treasury needs continue to rapidly evolve, Citi is always looking to develop client-focused solutions that are thoughtful and forward-thinking to deliver on what clients crave in their day-to-day operations,” says Citi’s head of US commercial FX and derivative sales Kyle Falconi.
Now with more than 3,900 clients, Kantox is building up a sturdy portfolio which includes the likes of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Head of transactional FX solutions at SVB Adam Dowsett called Katnox “rather unique in the market at the moment” in an exclusive interview with FinTech Futures earlier this summer. Dowsett explained it’s because the firm offers a micro-transactional solution rather than a more holistic, multi-national solution.
Read next: BNP Paribas teams up with Kantox
