Singapore SME in Wholesale Sector secured revolving funding line of S$3,000,000 for its business growth under current challenging business climate

Updated: 11 May 2023

Serving the Under-banked SMEs

Bibby Financial Services Singapore (BFSSG) understands that SMEs face numerous challenges in accessing funding options under the prevalent challenging market conditions contributed by high inflation, high business costs, spike in interest rates, uncertainties in demand etc.

Since 2012, BFSSG has been providing funding access to the under-served SME segment in Singapore. BFSSG is now expanding our range of innovative funding solutions to support the continued growth of SMEs in Singapore. As one of the largest independent funders, BFS Group has over 40 years of global experience in providing customised funding solutions to over 7,500 businesses worldwide.

Innovative Funding Solution

BFSSG has provided a S$3,000,000 Confidential Invoice Discounting Facility (CID) to an established Singaporean SME which is a leader in the Wholesale Trade (for privacy reasons, the identity of the company is anonymised).

The wholesale company had been looking around for alternative financing option to support its business growth. Owing to its business model, the company has a wide spread of debtors with voluminous invoices, and most importantly, it desires confidentiality in its funding arrangement so as to offer flexibility in managing its client relationships.

At BFSSG, we are committed to addressing these client’s requirements by providing flexible funding solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of the individual client, supported by a full-service model, i.e. a Client Manager is assigned to every of our clients.

To this end, our bespoke funding solution is designed to help the company to maximise its funding capacity without the need for individual invoice submissions. With fast cash advance based on their sales ledger, the company can manage its cash flows more effectively.

Concurrently, we understand the importance of confidentiality in business. Hence, we provide a confidential arrangement that allows the company to continue managing its own credit control function while we support its funding needs. This arrangement not only allows the company to leverage on its collection skills but also ensures that it can maintain trade confidentiality.

Compared to Overdraft and Term Loan, CID provides the following advantages:

  • CID facility is a revolving facility and is non-amortising.
  • CID is usually provided at a higher limit than unsecured Overdraft and Term Loan.
  • CID does not require pledge of additional collateral aside from receivables.
  • CID solution can be accessed by SMEs with lesser financial track record.

Convenience Provided By Enhanced Digital Capabilities

In a recent collaboration, BFSSG has migrated its operations to the latest version of Lendscape. The move is aimed at streamlining BFSSG’s lending operations and improving user/client experience and has already generated benefits including:

  • Enhanced self-service and access to real-time information for Singapore clients under a new client portal.
  • A simpler user/client journey with intuitive screens and digital forms.
  • Automation of processes including cash allocation, issuing of tax invoices and letters, calculation of commissions etc.
  • Enabling the submission of documentation via online client portal, hence reducing administrative delay and burden.

This marked a significant milestone in our BFS 4.0 Strategy to become a leading international provider of financial solutions for SMEs with a digital , multi-channel delivery and operational platform. Given Lendscape’s tried-and-tested technology, BFS is now well-placed to provide SMEs in South East Asia with flexible, scalable and innovative financing solutions that will help them grow and thrive.

Endorsement From Client

Accordingly to the Managing Director of our client, “the innovative CID funding solution provided by BFSSG has provided certainty to our business as we are no longer plagued by cashflow strain due to late payments from our debtors. In turn, it has provided us confidence to now focus on the growth of our business for the foreseeable future. We are delighted to partner BFS which is a leading international SME funder with clear footprints in Singapore and regional markets and thus, can also support our funding needs should we expand overseas”.