Hong Kong, 2 February 2019 – The year of the pig is starting and it looks to be an auspicious one in the world of invoice discounting, especially for Velotrade, a cutting edge online invoice trading platform headquartered in Hong Kong.
Velotrade enables corporates or SMEs to meet their working capital financing needs by funding their B to B invoices.
Through Velotrade’s online invoice financing platform or app, companies can upload their invoices and turn them into cash immediately instead of waiting for the standard payment terms of 30, 60, 90 or 120 days.
On the other side of the transaction, previously approved investors bid on trade receivables and provide the funding (generally around 80% of the nominal amount). At maturity, once the payment is made by the debtor, the remaining 20% (minus fees) will be returned to the client.
“Now Velotrade offers easy access to the digitization of receivable financing. From factoring to supply chain finance, Velotrade is able to propose a tailor-made and pay-as-you-go solution all over the world. We are helping companies to efficiently monetize their unpaid invoices and unlock cash that may be otherwise only accessible in about two months - or in many cases, much longer.” said Gianluca Pizzituti, CEO of Velotrade. “Technology is playing an ever more important role in shaping ‘old school’ business finance service product offerings,” he added.
Simplification and process speeding-up have been the key solutions that Fintech have developed on their online services. Intervenants are offering differents level of security for investors and corporates.
The Asian Fintech market may have suffered from a lack of regulation compared to European and American markets.
Fintech are now trying to embrace it, Velotrade, for example, finished 2018 on a high note by being the first invoice finance platform in Hong Kong to be granted a Type 1 SFC licence.
The SFC (Securities & Futures Commission) is an independent statutory body set up to regulate the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong. It is the first time they have provided a Licence to an online invoice trading marketplace. “Obtaining an SFC Licence is proof of the quality and reliability of our platform and services,” said Vittorio De Angelis, Executive Chairman.
Fintech can access new opportunities in this alternative asset class with the granting of a regulator’s approval.
As a consequence of being regulated, Velotrade has already seen a growing interest from the investor community including global institutions, hedge funds, family offices and qualified HNWIs (High Net Worth Individuals).
Fintech world is vibrant and Velotrade also launched solutions to extend access to their online invoice trading platform to Chinese corporates while fully abiding to local rules and regulation. They were able to grant their investors the ability to purchase Chinese domestic invoices in January 2019. They became the first foreign invoice financing company to execute a factoring transaction in China with a pay-as-you-go solution through an online platform. They will not only offer invoice discounting on invoices issued by Chinese corporates for their overseas trading, but also will fund invoices on the domestic business.
Velotrade became the first invoice trading platform located outside of China to allow its foreign investors access to invoices issued in China.
Using the latest-available technologies, Velotrade’s platform is an efficient and fast means for companies to obtain financing to meet their cash flow imbalances.
