For a West Coast University, an international alumni payments program in a class by itself

A school with multiple campuses and disparate international payment practices found controls, consistency and cost savings with a Citi solution.

The Challenge
A university on the West Coast had multiple campuses across the state. It also had a diverse, international student body and alumni. In fact, the school’s strong international alumni programs required cross-border payment practices on each of its campuses.

Unfortunately, the school’s cross-university payment practices were inconsistent, with virtually no controls in place. This had two negative impacts: an inability to respond quickly to the needs of the school’s global alumni, and very high bank and foreign exchange fees.

The Solution
Citi stepped in and created an omnibus international account program that made it easy for the school to respond to its alumni programs around the globe. We deployed a Web-based application with remote entry from individual campus sites. The site included Finance Group authorization to ensure flexibility and control, and online reporting capabilities resolved any audit concerns.

The Results
With the Citi solution in place, the university was able to aggregate its cross-border currency requirements. That not only met the financial needs of its global alumni, but it also led directly to lower foreign exchange rates and reduced transaction fees for the school.