Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialised by industry, today announced that it is partnering with DBS Bank, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, to integrate digital trade financing capabilities into the Infor Nexus global network of more than 68,000 businesses. The two companies’ first joint program recently went live with one of the world’s largest global apparel companies, providing faster and more cost-efficient digital trade financing to suppliers in the apparel company’s supply chain ecosystem, which comprises mostly small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“This is an important relationship for Infor, where a common vision of data-driven financing bonds us and presses us forward,” said Gary Schneider, Vice President of Sales for Infor Financial Supply Chain Management. “DBS is a digital bank, based in Asia, focused on supplier funding and liquidity. Its pursuit of digital innovation and delivering greater value to supply chains, combined with our cloud-based platform and local support team around the globe, makes for a powerful partnership at a time when liquidity is a top priority for everyone.”
Sriram Muthukrishnan, Group Head of Trade Product Management, DBS Bank, said, “We continue to accelerate the deployment of our market-leading supply chain financing and digital capabilities to ensure steady financing to SME suppliers during these times of stress. Data forms the backbone of a successful digital strategy and its impact across multiple industries globally has been growing exponentially.”
“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,” Muthukrishnan noted. “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 characterised by prolonged trade disruptions and tighter credit lines, where optimal working capital management is key to survival.”
The two companies’ next joint program for pre-shipment finance, expected to launch in late 2020, will utilise supply chain data as the primary conduit to assess risk and credit worthiness, as opposed to traditional models that result in the majority of suppliers being under-funded or facing challenges to access necessary capital. Infor provides extensive supply chain data, including historic and real-time milestone information on the physical movement of goods, to enable a data-driven representation of a supplier’s performance and credit risk.
According to a research report from Aite Group analyst Enrico Camerinelli (The Supply Chain Bank, 2018), “In the next three years, the competitive frontier in corporate lending and supply chain finance will be the creation of innovative credit risk models that banks will use to leverage corporate supply chain process data. Banks will capture and analyse events in the physical supply chain (source-to-pay, order-to-cash) in order to generate a more comprehensive and realistic representation of a company’s risk profile.”
About DBS
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 18 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank’s “AA-” and “Aa1” credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney, “Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker and “Best Bank in the World” by Global Finance. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 11 consecutive years from 2009 to 2019.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, and positively impacting communities through supporting social enterprises, as it banks the Asian way. It has also established a SGD 50 million foundation to strengthen its corporate social responsibility efforts in Singapore and across Asia.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. The bank acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in all our 28,000 staff, representing over 40 nationalities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
