The majority of Citi’s foreign exchange (FX) clients are no longer searching for the perfect match in an FX provider, according to the bank’s annual CitiFX Vendor Review, which found that 87% were satisfied with their primary vendors, with 88% having enhancement requests, of which 52% were looking for core area improvements.

While proliferation of FX venues in the market has continued since the Covid pandemic, comparative results from the bank’s 2022 CitiFX Vendor Review show a drastic drop in clients seeking new vendors from 51% in 2022 to 19% in 2024.

This could be a result of FX execution venues quickly becoming deeply customized and integrated to clients’ internal systems, notes the 2024 review, which surveyed 120 of the bank’s most active clients, across banks, corporates, asset managers and hedge fund managers.

While these solutions reduce manual touch points and mitigate operational risk, the review shares, they may not be keeping up with client needs, leaving the client dependent on the existing technological solution. Switching to a new vendor, the review adds, takes time, cost and effort, creating a risk of ‘vendor lock-in’.

As well, the bank’s clients are heavily focused, the review shows, on existing providers improving FX management solutions, especially with workflow automation.