This new enhancement allows for a significant reduction in settlement time to as little as two days, which represents an improvement of more than a week. This reduced settlement timeframe offers one of the best clearing times available within the cross-border payments market.

Until recently, the Chinese Renminbi (RMB) was heavily regulated with trading restrictions. In 2009, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) commenced a controlled liberalization of the RMB currency. Continued expansion of this plan has allowed WorldLink Payment Services the opportunity to extend its capabilities in making cross-border payments in this currency.

Unlike other cross border payment providers, WorldLink has been effecting RMB payments to China for the past seven years. In 2010, WorldLink processed RMB payments for over 170 clients worldwide. Several clients currently sending U.S. Dollars into China are also expected to take advantage of WorldLink's new process to make RMB payments to approved corporations.

The recent reforms have enabled Citi to significantly reduce the settlement timeframe for receipt of RMB payments to beneficiaries. Because the currency was so heavily restricted, special processing measures were put in place to accommodate the regulations. These measures increased the average receipt time of payments to beneficiaries. Utilizing WorldLink's unique intelligent distribution capabilities, payments to approved corporations in China can now be received by the beneficiary in as little as two business days and without any volume restrictions, which will translate into a significant benefit to clients.

In addition, the foreign exchange conversion could only previously be processed by the beneficiary bank. With Citi's new process for payments to approved corporations, WorldLink has been able to leverage Citi's global reach, with Citibank Shanghai completing the FX conversion before passing the payment instruction to the beneficiary bank. This will give WorldLink Payment Services increased control and visibility into the foreign exchange process.

Diane S. Reyes, Global Payments Head of Citi's Global Transaction Services said, "The world has been waiting for the Renminbi restrictions to loosen. With WorldLink we have been able to manage RMB payments in the context of the regulations. Now we can provide our clients with an improved offering which will allow them to cut their payments time to beneficiaries in China."