Standard Chartered and Infor collaborate to digitise financial supply chain

Standard Chartered and Infor have today announced a 'strategic agreement' to introduce the Infor Nexus network to digitise the bank's financial supply chain.

The respective banking group and cloud software company say the collaboration will enable businesses to minimise supply chain delays while providing suppliers with better access to capital. 

"Our goal is to support clients in their digitalisation journey through expediting their payables acceptance and facilitating export proceeds, and as a result improve their working capital cycles," says Standard Chartered global head of open account trade product management, Michael Sugirin.

"We are excited to have this introduction agreement in place with Infor, whose platform offering not only fits well with our emerging markets footprint, but also shares a similar commitment in supporting the development of sustainable, intelligent supply chains." 

Standard Chartered indicated as part of the announcement that, depending on the requirements of the case, it will refer clients to the Infor Nexus network for a broader financial service.

The Infor Nexus network can then offer customers automated matching and digitised documentation through the company's network of thousands of global businesses.

The network also provides ongoing service and support to suppliers without requiring the involvement of the anchor buyer. 

Standard Chartered says the collaboration is truly mutually beneficial, as the banking group will be able to bolster digital transformation solutions that address inefficiencies while enabling growth.

The announcement comes just over a year after Infor Nexus was positioned in the leaders' quadrant of Gartner's "Magic Quadrant for Multienterprise Supply Chain Business Networks" report. 

"Collecting data and sensing signals in real-time, and then coordinating, executing and resolving issues quickly, will allow companies to operate their supply chains more effectively," Gartner says in the report. 

"The Infor Nexus network transforms the traditionally manual process of data matching across multiple commercial documents including purchase orders, invoices and transport documents. 

"This helps to speed up trade financing cycles, allowing suppliers to access capital faster and at more critical points in the transaction cycle, and as a result ensure on-time delivery of goods," the report says.

Currently, Infor Nexus has more than 65,000 companies connected to its network.

"Invoice approvals in a traditional nonautomated environment often take weeks to complete, putting a squeeze on suppliers and bringing contention to the buyer-supplier relationship," says Infor Nexus vice president of sales Asia Pacific Cas Brentjens.

"Slow invoice matching delays the trade financing cycle, preventing suppliers from obtaining the capital they need to deliver quality and compliant goods on time.