DBS, Infor Rethink Digital Trade Financing for Suppliers
- By CDOTrends editors
- July 27, 2020
Infor and DBS Bank are teaming up to integrate digital trade financing capabilities into the Infor Nexus global network, which has over 68,000 businesses.
The joint program, the first from the two companies, looks to create innovative credit risk models based on corporate supply chain process data. These models can help to ease financing shortages as the global market recalibrates after the pandemic.
"This is an important relationship for Infor, where a common vision of data-driven financing bonds us and presses us forward," says Gary Schneider, vice president of sales for Infor Financial Supply Chain Management.
As part of this partnership, DBS will capture and analyze the physical supply chain activities using data from Infor Nexus to generate a better risk profile of the supplier. This will shape the supplier’s trade financing capabilities with the bank.
"Our collaboration with Infor enables greater transparency into complex supply chains and provides insights into the transaction patterns between an anchor and its ecosystem of suppliers," said Sriram Muthukrishnan, group head of trade product management at DBS Bank.
"We leverage these insights to provide quicker and more cost-efficient financing to suppliers much earlier in the cycle, as compared to conventional post-shipment supplier financing programs. This is especially relevant today, as we continue to operate in an environment characterized by prolonged trade disruptions and tighter credit lines, where optimal working capital management is key to survival," he added.
According to a press release, one of the world’s largest global apparel company is already using this program. The apparel company is looking to secure faster and more cost-efficient digital trade financing to its supply chain ecosystem that comprises mostly small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The two companies' next joint program for pre-shipment finance is expected to launch in late 2020. It will use supply chain data to assess risk and credit worthiness, as opposed to traditional models that result in most suppliers being under-funded or facing challenges to access necessary capital.
Photo credit: iStockphoto/Natali_Mis