Shahira Banu S
Chennai
Summary
To leverage my 6+ years of experience in clearing & collections, LCY/FCY payments, and SWIFT operations to contribute effectively to banking operations, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely settlements while supporting organizational goals.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
3
3
years of post-secondary education
Work History
CITI - CASH OPERATIONS (C05) PRESENT
Citibank
Chennai
01.2022 - Current
- Back-office operations: Supported end-to-end payment processing for Citibank UAE, Treasury Department (TD), and Citibank Iraq
- LCY & FCY payments: Processed local and foreign currency transactions ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
- SWIFT processing: MT103: Processed customer-to-customer international payment transfers.MT202: Handled bank-to-bank fund transfers. MT202 COV: Managed cover payments for customer transfers via correspondent banks.MT199: Sent free-format payment queries and follow-ups. MT299: Responded to payment investigations and confirmations.
- Payment investigations: Handled payment exceptions, delays, returns, and customer/bank queries
- Coordination: Liaised with internal teams and correspondent banks to ensure smooth fund flow
- Settlements: Ensured on-time settlement and resolved breaks and discrepancies
- Compliance: Followed Citibank policies, controls, AML guidelines, and SLAs
- Time deposits: Booked, monitored, matured, and rolled over time deposits accurately
- Fund tracking: Tracked funds post-deposit booking to ensure correct value and settlement
- FCY credit backs: Processed outgoing foreign currency credit returns to customers/remitters
- Daily flows: Monitored and verified daily inflow and outflow transactions
- Customer queries: Responded promptly to customer account-related queries
- Payment failures: Identified root causes of payment failures and returned funds accordingly
- FX remittances: Processed incoming and internal payments including FX remittances
- Exception handling: Resolved processing exceptions with high accuracy and attention to detail.
Process Associate - Clearing, Collections & Payments Operations (Citi UAE Process)
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
01.2018 - 01.2022
- Clearing & Collections: Handled inward and outward clearing and collection transactions.
- Ensured timely processing as per banking guidelines.
- Cheque Clearing: Processed inward and outward cheque clearing accurately. Followed cut-off timings and clearing house rules.
- ICLS Collections: Managed ICLS collection processing in line with bank policies. Ensured accurate posting and settlement of collections.
- Charges Accounting: Handled charges posting and accounting. Prevented revenue leakage through proper validation.
- Nostro Reconciliation: Performed Nostro account postings and daily reconciliation.
- Investigated and resolved unmatched entries.
- Temporary Overdraft (TOD) : Processed temporary overdraft requests for customer accounts as per bank approval. Ensured proper authorization, limit validation, and timely reversal.
- Standing Instructions (SI): Executed standing instructions for recurring customer transactions.Ensured accurate debit/credit posting within defined schedules and controls.
Education
Bachelor of Commerce -
Shri Krishnaswamy College of Women
Chennai 01.2014 - 01.2017
Skills
- Clearing & Collections Operations
- LCY & FCY Payments Processing
- Inward & Outward Cheque Clearing
- SWIFT Messaging & Investigations
- Nostro Accounting & Reconciliation
- Charges Accounting
- Payment operations
- Fulfilling and exceeding targets
- Service levels
- Quality standards
- Flex cube
- Sanctions Check
- Funds Transfer operations
- Risk identification
- Building controls
- Customer enquiry resolution
- UAT management
- Process migration
- Process manual preparation
- Back-office management
- Process trainings
- Query & Escalation Management
- Risk Control & Compliance
- MIS Reporting & Documentation
- Team Support & Training
Process Product Management
- Ensured smooth end-to-end process flow within the unit
- Identified process gaps and implemented improvements
- Mapped client requirements and supported process transitions
- Prepared unit-level and regional MIS reports
- Planned and managed work allocation and shift schedules
- Performed Risk Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) on a quarterly basis
- Trained new joiners on process and banking functionalities
Awards Recognition
- Received multiple client appreciation emails for accurate and timely resolution of payment queries
- Awarded Consistent Performer for preventing duplicate payments in Citiphone and branch inward cheque processing
- Recognized for independently handling team responsibilities and achieving targets
- I implemented an automation improvement in the IQD payment process, eliminating manual handling of 1000+ transactions where debit and credit account details were previously entered through copy-paste. I proposed and enabled the use of a single Nostro account for all IQD customers, allowing the system to automatically pull and book payments in RCXT. The process now requires only deal input and exchange rate entry, significantly reducing manual effort, eliminating errors, and saving approximately 1.5–2 FTE.
- Implemented a process improvement for handling rejected payments by leveraging same-day NAK reports to identify failed transactions and their reasons, eliminating dependency on next-day reports from another team. Enabled same-day return of funds instead of delays, improving turnaround time, reducing idle balances, and enhancing customer experience.
Systems Tools
- Flexcube
- Systematics
- FTS
- EDEALER
- ECCS
- TITANet
Personal Information
- Father's Name: E. Sait
- Mother's Name: S. Faridha
- Date of Birth: 08/17/97
- Nationality: Indian
- Marital Status: Unmarried
Languages
Tamil
First Language
English
Advanced
C1
Timeline
CITI - CASH OPERATIONS (C05) PRESENT
Citibank
01.2022 - Current
Process Associate - Clearing, Collections & Payments Operations (Citi UAE Process)
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
01.2018 - 01.2022
Bachelor of Commerce -
Shri Krishnaswamy College of Women
01.2014 - 01.2017