Lendscape Supply Chain Finance offer simplified access for SMEs
Lendscape, a leading secured lending platform vendor, today announces new upgrades to its supply chain finance (SCF) solution. The new enhanced solution will make it simpler and faster for lenders to onboard and support buyers and suppliers, giving businesses more streamlined access to much needed working capital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bringing together buyers, suppliers and banks that fund the process onto one platform, Lendscape’s SCF solution helps all parties simplify their operations and mitigate risk more effectively. Suppliers can interact with both buyers and funders in real time and increase visibility of accounts receivables, while buyers can create bespoke processes tailored to each supplier.
As part of the enhanced Lendscape SCF solution, new onboarding capabilities enable a fast and efficient KYC process, such as approval hierarchy, and linking out to external APIs for anti-money laundering checks or document signing, much of which lenders historically completed manually which slowed down the onboarding process. By driving efficiencies in due diligence and compliance processes, Lendscape helps lenders approve more buyers and suppliers and increase access to capital for those that need it.
In the current climate, SMEs and growth businesses in particular, find that maximising liquidity to be a challenge. In the UK, for example, growth businesses have not found it straightforward to access funding from the business interruption loan scheme during COVID-19. At the same time, many smaller businesses, especially in emerging markets, find that they lack the credit rating required to access bank finance, but instead can tap into security within their supply chains.
Kevin Day, CEO of Lendscape commented: “We are delighted to announce this new development in our supply chain finance offer. Banks and other lenders have an excellent opportunity through SCF services to help businesses globally optimise supply chains, increase cash flow and streamline their operations - this has never been more critical than during the COVID-19 pandemic where supply chains are under intense pressure. Investment in technology and the automation of SCF processes is vital in helping lenders efficiently provide the finance that businesses need during this pandemic and beyond.”
SCF was traditionally seen as a solution for bigger companies with strong and lengthy credit histories. However greater availability of digital capabilities are creating opportunities to help SMEs access working capital and fuelling growth in SCF as a type of finance. In 2018, SCF saw 25% growth in the DACH region alone, and 23% in the US LATAM region in the second half of 2019.
Lendscape’s SCF process will be implemented by the company’s dedicated product team, which oversees factoring, asset-based finance and SCF services for global clients including: Investec, Bibby, Lloyds, ABN Amro, SEB, Santander, Hitachi and Siemens.