Yanolja CEO Lee Soo-jin, fourth from left, and Citibank Korea chief Yoo Myung-soon, fifth from left, pose along with officials of the two companies after signing a memorandum of understanding at the head office of Yanolja in southern Seoul on May 21. Under the partnership, Citibank Korea will help Yanolja tap into the global software market for the hospitality business. Photo courtesy of Citibank Korea

Cross-border payment solutions dedicated to hospitality industry will be developed

Citibank Korea announced on May 24 that the Seoul-based lender will join hands with Yanolja to help the latter expand its businesses outside of the country.

Toward that end, Citibank Korea CEO Yoo Myung-soon and Yanolja chief Lee Su-jin signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the latter’s head office in southern Seoul.

Since its debut in 2005 as a budget hotel-booking service, Yanolja has become one of global powerhouses in property management software. It now competes with Oracle.

Yanolja currently offers cloud-based hotel operating solutions to over 30,000 clients in 170 countries. Under the partnership, it will take advantage of Citigroup’s worldwide network to ink more licensing deals.

From the perspective of Citibank Korea, it strives to build on Yanolja’s market insights and big data to offer global payment solutions specialized for hospitality industry.

“We look forward to introducing our innovative technologies that lead the industry to more clients in diverse countries through Citibank’s extensive global network,” Yanolja head Lee said.

“Yanolja will continue to pursue active collaboration with key partners in the industry to strengthen our global competitiveness and take a leap forward to become a representative company of the hospitality industry.”

Citibank Korea CEO Yoo also expressed hopes on the business alliance

“Through the MOU signed with the travel unicorn, Citibank will do its best to support Yanolja in becoming a leader in not only the domestic but also in overseas travel industry,” she noted.

“Citibank will leverage its global network to serve as a stepping-stone for Korean companies to make inroads into global markets and provide utmost assistance to ensure that the companies received finest financial services even when they are abroad.”

Yanolja has developed a software-as-a-service platform dedicated to the hospitality industry, including hotels, leisure facilities, and restaurants. It now offers services in more than 60 languages across the globe.

In particular, it hopes to further beef up its position in the industry by globally launching “Y Flux” solution later this year.

Citibank, whose history stretches back to early 19th century, tapped into Korea in 1967 and has helped many Korean enterprises wade into overseas markets.
이 기사를 공유합니다
Copyright © The Korea News Plus