Citi and Ant International have launched a pilot program to integrate Ant International’s AI-driven Falcon Time-Series Transformer (TST) Model with Citi’s Fixed FX Rates solution, aiming to enhance foreign exchange (FX) risk management for clients, with an initial focus on the aviation sector. Ant International, headquartered in Singapore, is a global digital payment and financial technology provider. The collaboration seeks to address the significant foreign exchange exposure faced by the airline industry, which handles billions in payment transactions annually. The solution combines Ant International’s expertise in airline payments with Citi’s FX capabilities.The Falcon TST Model is a transformer architecture-based big data model with approximately 2 billion parameters. It utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast future data points by identifying complex patterns within extensive historical datasets. This technology is designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of cashflow and FX exposure forecasts for businesses, potentially leading to reductions in hedging and overall FX costs. Ant International states its own internal use cases have achieved an accuracy rate exceeding 90%.Citi’s Fixed FX Rates solution allows businesses selling online in multiple currencies to secure FX rates for a defined period, mitigating risks from currency fluctuations and providing greater predictability for budgeting, pricing, and profitability. The solution supports over 70 currencies and is currently used across various sectors, including airlines, travel, and e-commerce. The integration of Ant International’s AI-enabled forecasting aims to further enhance the accuracy of sales and FX exposure predictions for businesses utilizing Citi’s offering.In initial live transactions, Citi reported successfully completing FX transactions for a major Asian carrier, resulting in reduced FX hedging costs. Kelvin Li, General Manager of Platform Tech at Ant International, stated, “The 30% hedging cost savings Ant International has achieved for the pilot airline customer shows the cost efficiency that can be achieved with AI-enabled FX hedging. We are excited to expand the solution with Citi to serve more businesses and industries.” Sam Hewson, Global Head of FX Sales at Citi, commented, “Citi’s Fixed FX Rates solution supports some of the world’s largest e-Commerce and Travel names and this innovative solution sees us leveraging best-in-class technology capabilities in the broader ecosystem to accelerate go-to-market use cases.”As global airline travel continues to grow, this joint solution aims to offer enhanced payment stability and cost efficiency to an industry processing vast volumes of cross-currency transactions.