Gavin Tarr
SMEs across South Africa are chasing millions of rands in invoice payments from their debtors on a regular basis; a burden that significantly impacts their cash flow and productivity.
In response, FNB’s Selective Invoicing Discounting (SID) trade credit solution, offers its Commercial and Business customers the opportunity to sell their unpaid invoices to help unlock their cash flow, while awaiting payment from approved debtors.
This simple and seamless application process is now available to FNB’s customers via the FNB App, FNB.mobi and FNB Online Banking. The SID solution will pay customers up to 80% of the invoice amount upfront, while they await their debtors’ payment.
SID’s overall portfolio has grown significantly as FNB customers have shown immense receptivity to this simple and easy to use invoice discounting product. This innovative approach to customer application and processing for SID is expected to significantly increase customer take up as the solution is now available on all FNB’s digital channels.
“We are giving businesses immediate access to the funds they need to operate and grow. Instead of spending valuable time on administrative effort to ensure invoice payments and reconciliation from their debtors, FNB empowers SMEs to unlock working capital faster and focus on what they do best – start, run, and grow their businesses,” says Gavin Tarr, Head of Working Capital Solutions, FNB Commercial Structured Finance Solutions.
Once a business has successfully applied for and been approved for SID via FNB’s digital channels, the relevant invoice validations and verifications are completed and funding is then made available within hours. With over 80% of SID’s customer base comprising of SMEs, the portfolio has grown 20-fold over the past few years, driven by FNB’s commitment to speed up, and simplify access to funding for SMEs.
“The solution works well in a variety of industries and is currently dominated by debtors operating in the retail sector. As take up grows due to the launch of our seamless and easy to use application process, we expect to see a more even distribution in the various industry segments,” he adds.
FNB also works closely with the debtors who are due to make payment on these outstanding invoices, as their collaboration helps with the administration of the process. These debtors are very supportive of this type of trade solution to assist their suppliers in their cash flow needs.
“We remain committed to simplifying credit access for South African businesses, offering speed, transparency, and control to SMEs looking to start, grow and run their businesses and optimise their cash flow management,” says Tarr.
For more information on selective invoice discounting, businesses can visit www.fnb.co.za
Gavin Tarr – Head of Working Capital Solutions at FNB. He writes in his personal capacity.
