Citizens Financial Group Launches accessBUSINESS Manager All-in-One Cash Management Service for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses

PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG) today announced that it is launching accessBUSINESS Manager, an all-in-one, fixed-price package of cash management products developed specifically for small and mid-sized businesses. This first-to-market offering provides business owners with a combination of convenience and cash management services in a bundled package.

"We listened to our Citizens Bank and Charter One customers, who told us that, above all, they were looking for simplicity, convenience and efficiency in their cash management operations," said Prabhat Vira, Head of CFG's Global Transaction Services Americas. "We developed accessBUSINESS Manager to provide both the ease-of-use they desired and the specific cash management products they need to run their businesses better and more efficiently."

Citizens Bank and Charter One are offering accessBUSINESS Manager to small and mid-sized business customers for a set price of $295 per month, representing a savings of 30 percent to 40 percent from the combined individual costs of these services.  

With accessBUSINESS Manager, small and mid-sized businesses banking with Citizens Bank or Charter One now have an all-inclusive cash management solution to accelerate the collection of their account receivables and to make secure vendor payments and payroll direct deposits. Customers can access all of these services through the convenience of their desktop computer or mobile device -- wherever and whenever they'd prefer.

"As the banking partner to companies in nearly every sector of the economy, we know that cash management is a critical process for every kind of business, no matter their scale," said Robert Matthews, CFG Vice Chairman and Head of Commercial Banking. "Our goal in creating accessBUSINESS Manager was to make it easier for Citizens Bank and Charter One customers to access the full suite of tools we have created to help companies focus on growing their businesses, secure in the knowledge that their cash is being managed efficiently."

Included in the integrated package of cash management solutions within accessBUSINESS Manager are:

• Receivables manager
  • Check scanning directly from customer's location
  • Electronic payments
  • Income wire transfers

• Payables manager
  • Commercial credit card with rewards
  • Payment of vendors and employees through ACH
  • Wire transfers
  • Online bill payment

• Investment Center
  • FDIC insure money market savings account

• Information Manager
  • Reporting

In market research that led to the creation of accessBUSINESS Manager, CFG's small and mid-sized business customers commented:

• "Not having to go to numerous points to get these things done would be a big help."
• "The obvious benefit is convenience."
• "I'd prefer a flat or fixed cost vs. something that fluctuates."
• "Being able to organize everything through one source is of great benefit. Can see the time savings that could be made via the online interface."
• "Offering the package for a fixed monthly price provides stability to cash management."
• "accessBUSINESS Manager... addresses the basics of efficient, automated cash management."

accessBUSINESS Manager is another in a series of "access"-branded offerings Citizens Financial Group is developing specifically for the ease-of-use, flexibility and accessibility of banking functions for businesses. CFG last year launched accessMOBILE, a mobile banking application that for the first time empowers Citizens Bank and Charter One commercial and business banking customers to manage their cash and payments from a mobile device.

For more information on accessBUSINESS Manager, or to speak with Prabhat Vira or Robert Matthews, 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, Inc.