Citi and Ant International have launched a pilot programme to enhance FX risk management for airline clients.
The companies explained in a press release on Friday that the programme is using artificial intelligence to improve forecasting accuracy and reduce hedging costs.
The collaboration centres on Ant International’s Falcon Time-Series Transformer (TST) Model, which incorporates AI-powered time series forecasting with nearly 2 billion parameters.
Combined with Citi’s Fixed FX Rates solution, the tool aims to help businesses better predict cashflow and currency exposures, offering greater price stability in online transactions across more than 70 currencies.
The initial focus is the aviation sector, where FX exposure is significant due to high volumes of cross-border ticket sales.
A leading Asian carrier testing the joint solution has already achieved a 30% reduction in FX hedging costs, according to Ant International.
“This is the first industry-tailored solution developed from our Falcon TST Model with a bank partner to serve their customers,” said Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech at Ant International. “We are excited to expand the solution with Citi to serve more businesses and industries.”
Sam Hewson, Global Head of FX Sales at Citi, added: “This innovative solution sees us leveraging best-in-class technology capabilities in the broader ecosystem to accelerate go-to-market use cases.”
As the global travel industry continues to recover, the companies plan to scale the AI-powered FX solution across additional sectors, including e-commerce and digital payments.