Citibank Korea has signed a memorandum of understanding with Yanolja to support the local accommodation booking platform’s overseas business activities, officials said Monday. 

Under the agreement, the lender’s US parent company Citigroup will offer its global networks to Yanolja which aims to expand its client base not only in advanced markets such as the United States and Europe, but also emerging markets like Southeast Asia and India.

Yanolja currently offers a cloud-based hotel property management system to more than 30,000 businesses across 170 countries.

The partnership also states Yanolja will provide its market insights and big data to Citigroup’s Korean unit to help the lender come up with a global payment solution specialized for the hospitality industry. 

“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,” said Citibank Korea CEO Yoo Myung-soon.

“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 receive the finest financial services even when they are abroad.”

The MOU is the latest tie-up from Citibank Korea offering a bridge to local companies making inroads into global markets.

Yanolja founder and CEO Lee Su-jin said “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 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.”

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)