Equity has invested in a new trade finance system that is aimed at improving turn-around time and boosting supply chain financing.
At its trial phase, the system has seen a recorded increase in earnings through non funded income business revenue as well as registering growth in contingent liabilities for the past one year. It is expected that it will enable the bank to shift from focusing primarily on large corporate clients to including MSMEs and SMEs into the business mix.
In line with this, Equity has enlarged its international outreach through collaborations with top global correspondent banks across the globe. This will enable the bank to handle more trade finance transactions for large international commodity traders, global construction giants, blue chip corporate manufactures and MSMEs and SMEs.
The technology has enabled the digitization of services, real-time exchange of data and assets, faster processing and more efficient verification of compliance with customs and international trade regulations as well as improved transparency and tracking of trade assets.
Moving forward, SMEs and MSMEs are set to benefit from a wide range of solutions which includes the issuance of collateral-free, bid bonds, performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees, letters of credit, invoice discounting, and Local purchase order (LPO) which forms the core of Equity’s key offering. These collateral-free services are readily available at any Equity branch in the country enabling MSMEs and SMEs to compete effectively against well-established businesses that previously dominated tendering processes within the country.