Citizens Financial Group Introduces Streamlined Payment System for Transactions Executed in Chinese Renminbi (RMB) Currency

PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens Financial Group (CFG) today introduced a streamlined payment capability that allows its commercial customers to settle third-party and trade-related payments in Renminbi (RMB), the local Chinese currency. By making onshore payments in RMB, CFG's Citizens Bank and Charter One are helping their customers mitigate currency risk, improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs.

Citizens is one of the first regional banks in the United States to be granted approval by the People's Bank of China to maintain an account in RMB, which is China's "People's Currency."

"Citizens Bank and Charter One commercial customers are taking advantage of the rapid growth and expansion opportunities in China and already wire close to $1 billion annually to counterparties there. This is a 70 percent increase over the past five years and underscores how important China capabilities are to our commercial clients," said Robert Matthews, CFG Vice Chairman and Head of Commercial Banking. "This offering gives companies banking with Citizens Bank and Charter One advantages as they negotiate terms on purchases of Chinese goods and services."

This new capability offers a number of benefits to Citizens Bank and Charter One customers:

• The ability to source the currency from RBS Asia allows Citizens to offer competitive exchange rates.
• Faster speed-of-settlement improves the clearing process for local payments in China.
• U.S. companies with payroll exposure in China are able to fund in RMB.
• China-based vendors may give more favorable shipping terms when paid in RMB.

"We leveraged the global currency-trading capabilities of our parent company, RBS, to develop this new service," said Prabhat Vira, Head of CFG's Global Transaction Services Americas. "Similar to other products we have designed to help make financial transactions more efficient for Citizens Bank and Charter One customers, this new capability allows our customers to tie in to our strength as a global bank. In this case, we have seamlessly integrated with operations in RBS Asia to support their continued growth in this increasingly important part of the global economy."

For more information or to speak to Citizens Financial Group, please contact Davia Temin or Jim Daniels of Temin and Company at 212-588-8788 or [email protected].

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.

Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is a $132 billion commercial bank holding company. It is headquartered in Providence, R.I., and, through its subsidiaries, has more than 1,500 branches, approximately 3,800 ATMs and more than 21,100 employees. Its two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A. and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 12-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. CFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in more than 30 states. CFG is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc). CFG's website is citizensbank.com.  

SOURCE Citizens Financial Group