Discussions started in mid-2023, prompted by the airline’s recognition of the evolution of passengers’ buying behaviours and the need to launch dynamic marketing campaigns for low/high seasonal promotions; these combined factors accelerated the requirement for a more robust multi-currency pricing (MCP) capability to be put in place.

The succeeding months saw the journey that Citi and Ant International has taken with the airline, where challenges in mapping the entire collection and payment cycle were better understood including the fragmented payment systems and dependence on the airline’s Global Distribution System (GDS) connectivity.

This assessment identified several areas of improvement in the airline’s current MCP set-up such as improving the FX order submission cycle, managing multiple payment methods and currency conversions. Q323 saw the submission of project findings and a tailored proposal to enhance the overall MCP enablement for the airline.

Ant International has implemented a MCP capability with various payment options and the airline needed a global bank to manage the foreign exchange associated with currency fluctuations and ensure accurate pricing across different markets. A platform is also in place to manage and streamline complex payment processes of global ticket sales, ancillary services and refunds across multiple channels.

Citi’s fixed rates offering combined with Ant International’s Treasury Orchestration Platform is a tailored and AI-powered MCP set-up that allows the airline to lower FX hedging costs and improve ancillary revenue streams.

Citi’s unique solution provides fixed FX rates that are locked in for pre-agreed time periods, enabling online multi-currency pricing. Ant International’s AI engine in its Treasury Orchestration Platform produces reliable forecasts as FX orders can be sent to Citi for trade execution as more immediate transactions instead of relying on traditional end-of-day batch processes.