Citi Korea reinforces support for Yanolja's global expansion

Marc Luet, fifth from left, head of Citi's cluster and banking for Japan, Asia North and Australia (JANA), Yanolja founder Lee Su-jin, center, Gunjan Kalra, seventh from left, head of Citi commercial bank for JANA and South Asia, and other officials pose at the Citi Asia Digital Leaders Summit 2026 in Shenzhen, China, Thursday. Courtesy of Citibank Korea

Citi Korea has strengthened its global business-to-business (B2B) payments collaboration with Yanolja, a global leisure and travel technology platform, by expanding the deployment of Citi’s Virtual Card Account (VCA) to Yanolja's enterprise solution member, the lender said Thursday.

The collaboration was formalized at the Citi Asia Digital Leaders Summit held in Shenzhen, China, where senior executives from Citi and Yanolja, including Marc Luet, head of Citi's cluster and banking for Japan, Asia North and Australia (JANA) and Yanolja founder Lee Su-jin.

Yanolja will integrate Citi’s global B2B payments solutions into its enterprise solution member, enabling consistent operational standards and controls across multicountry transaction platforms.

As digital companies expand into multiple markets, payments infrastructure has evolved to become a core enabler of operational resilience and scalable global growth.

Citi’s VCA solution enables clients to expand into new markets without large-scale system overhauls while maintaining their existing operating models.

The solution allows corporate clients to segregate transactions by country, legal entity and business line, while centrally managing global payment flows.

This enhances transparency and control, while driving operational efficiency, cost optimization and faster time-to-market.

“As global expansion becomes increasingly diversified across regions, the importance of maintaining consistent operating standards for clients entering new markets continues to grow," said Gunjan Kalra, head of Citi commercial bank for JANA and South Asia.

"This collaboration demonstrates a core component of how Citi Commercial Bank supports mid-sized corporates, globally, with their international ambitions. It illustrates the importance of a unified global payments infrastructure in supporting both the stability and pace of international growth for midsized corporates," Kalra said.

Lee said, “Working with Citi represents an important strategic milestone for payment capabilities tailored to the global travel industry. By combining Yanolja’s travel-focused software and platform capabilities with Citi’s global financial infrastructure, we aim to lead the digital transformation of the travel industry.”

Looking ahead, the two organizations plan to further enhance risk management capabilities and global treasury infrastructure through initiatives such as artificial intelligence-driven anomaly detection, automated reconciliation processes and cost optimization programs to support continued international expansion.

Citi Korea, as part of Citi’s global network, supports Korean corporates in their international expansion and cross-border financial operations.