Citi Debuts New Custody Tools to Meet Demand for Faster Settlement

Citi has debuted Custody+, a suite of near or real-time custody solutions.

The banking giant announced this new offering Tuesday (Aug. 18), noting that it is happening as “institutional investors navigate compressed settlement cycles, continuous markets and AI-driven decision making.”

“Citi’s Services business invests over US$2 billion annually in its platform strategy with a focus on speed, scale and availability,” said Chris Cox, Citi’s head of investor services. “Custody+ is a clear example of this investment as we build infrastructure to eliminate latency and drag for institutional investor clients. By integrating our global network with data and technology, we are redefining the operational backbone for clients who require precision, transparency and continuous market access.”

Citi said that Custody+ marks a shift from a standardized and traditional custody model to a modular ecosystem of solutions that can be adapted to clients’ workflows and operating models at scale. Citi’s Custody business supports clients in more than 100 markets around the world, including 62 proprietary markets.

The release also highlighted several features of the new offering, including its ability to provide infrastructure for “diverse operating models” like digital asset custody.

“Digital assets already operate on near-instant settlement, 24/7,” the bank said, noting that Citi plans to introduce digital asset custody later this year, beginning with bitcoin.

“This is being built on Citi’s common digital asset architecture, and we will offer a one-stop custody experience,” the release added. “Clients will access traditional and crypto custody capabilities within the same framework for an integrated experience.”

Writing about Citi’s infrastructure upgrades earlier this year, PYMNTS observed that the bank’s focus on real-time funding and single-event processing is indicative of a wider push within the industry toward immediacy.

“Payments are no longer batch-based or end-of-day reconciled,” that report said. “They are increasingly event-driven, triggered by specific actions within a company’s operations.”

In other Citi news, the bank’s consumer cards unit on Thursday (Aug. 13) plans to expand its its customer engagement and commerce media capabilities by purchasing Kard Financial, a commerce media and rewards platform for banks and FinTechs.

“With this acquisition, we believe we can work with Kard to accelerate innovation and deliver more personalized experiences for customers while creating new opportunities for brands and merchants to reach, engage and reward consumers in more meaningful ways,” Abhinav Anand, Citi’s head of value cards, lending and commerce, said in a Thursday news release.