A survey by Demica of trade finance banks in different areas of the world has found that more banks (27%) see receivables discounting as having growth potential this year than payables (26%). This is the first time in the three-year history of this survey that receivables have been seen as having greater potential. Growth predictions are, however, also spread across other types of supply chain finance including inventory finance, trade receivables securitisations, and factoring.
The survey was conducted between November 2023 and January 2024, and it is clear that the recent high-interest rate environment has impacted both demand for, and utilisation of, payables finance programmes.
With payables finance, suppliers are able to access early payment on their invoices by taking advantage of the buyer’s credit rating to access extremely cost-effective financing. As interest rates have increased there has been a review by suppliers of their use of the product. Many have opted to selectively discount invoices as opposed to using functionality to automatically sell all invoices loaded into the programme, and in certain jurisdictions the strengthening of the dollar has encouraged suppliers to move to lower cost local currency sources of funding.
Read more at International Accounting Bulletin blog here
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