Citizens Financial Group Launches accessCARD Command for Commercial Card Customers

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Aug. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens Financial Group today announced the launch of accessCARD Command, a groundbreaking expense-management solution now available for no extra charge to all Citizens Bank and Charter One commercial card customers with annual revenues of less than $25 million. Leveraging the MasterCard inControl™ platform, accessCARD Command allows business owners to easily set spending controls on the cards issued to their employees and to receive real-time account information, including purchases made or attempted by their employees.

Citizens Financial Group is the first financial institution in the United States to provide access to this technology to its small business cardholders. It is now available to the bank's Business Banking and Commercial Enterprise Banking customers.

"We know from our customers that there is a strong and growing demand for technologies that can help them conduct their banking business more easily and more efficiently," said D. Stephen Wooters, Head of Commercial Cards, Citizens Financial Group. "accessCARD Command answers our customers' requirements for high security, improved control and greater cost efficiency for their commercial card accounts."

With accessCARD Command, Citizens' business cardholders are able to:

• Set up and manage exactly where, when, how and for what types of purchases their employees' cards may be used.
• Set up spend limits and budgets for particular types of spending.
• Establish how and when they receive alerts, via text and/or e-mail, to safeguard against overspending and keep them informed in real time about attempted card activity.
• Create limited use, virtual card numbers so that spending controls can be set for individual transactions or recurring use, providing enhanced levels of security and convenience as the business owner's real account number is never revealed to the employee or merchant.

"One of the reasons companies bank with us is our unique ability to combine deep knowledge of their local markets with the financial tools and insights of a global bank – capabilities that can help smaller companies in particular compete on a higher level," said Maria Tedesco, Executive Director of Business Banking for Citizens Financial Group. "Our Global Transaction Services team is delivering sophisticated products and services that are easy for all companies to access and use. We are excited by the potential for accessCARD Command to provide our small and medium-sized business customers with more control over their expenses."

accessCARD Command is another in a series of "access"-branded offerings that Citizens' Global Transaction Services team has developed specifically for the ease-of-use, flexibility and accessibility of banking functions for businesses. Late last year Citizens launched accessMOBILE, a breakthrough corporate mobile banking application that for the first time empowers commercial and business banking customers to manage their cash and payments from a mobile device. Earlier this year Citizens pioneered accessBUSINESS Manager, an all-in-one, fixed-price package of cash management products developed 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.

For more information on accessCARD Command, or to speak with Steve Wooters, 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