Citi has announced a partnership with the global working capital technology platform CredAble to introduce a new platform designed to digitize trade finance and electronic invoice validation on a global scale. This collaboration aims to enhance Citi’s digital trade loan process by integrating a verification layer powered by CredAble’s white-labelled solution, as reported by Fintech Finance News on January 6, 2024.
The new platform is set to provide Citi’s corporate clients and their suppliers with a streamlined digital flow, ensuring increased transparency and speed from the moment of invoice submission to final verification. This innovation comes at a crucial time when businesses are facing increasing complexity in their supply chains, characterized by multiple counterparties, currencies, and regulatory frameworks.
According to the report, the platform will validate invoices against government-backed digital public infrastructure, verifying over ten critical fields. This process aims to detect inconsistencies, enhance controls, reduce exceptions, and improve audit readiness. The need for such a solution has grown as traditional paper-based processes struggle to keep pace with modern trade demands.
In a recent message on LinkedIn, CredAble emphasized the evolving landscape of trade finance, noting, “Across global supply chains, businesses are adapting in structural ways.” The company highlighted trends such as nearshoring, reshoring, and the emergence of multipolar trade routes. Additionally, they pointed out that cash conversion cycles are lengthening, making liquidity a competitive advantage in today’s market.
As reported in October 2023, major banks worldwide are actively enhancing their trade finance offerings. The latest innovations focus on digitizing documentation and employing artificial intelligence-driven risk scoring to accelerate approvals. These developments come in response to the growing complexity of modern supply chains, which are increasingly outpacing traditional financing models.
Satyam Agrawal, global head of product and retail business lending at CredAble, previously stated, “By combining our AI-powered supply chain finance platform with Finastra’s leading trade finance solution and global reach, we are delivering a holistic, front-to-back trade and supply chain finance offering to more banks worldwide.” This statement followed CredAble’s partnership with Finastra in July 2024, aiming to provide an enhanced, end-to-end offering for trade finance and supply chain finance to banks globally.
The introduction of the new trade finance platform by Citi and CredAble represents a significant step towards modernizing financial processes in an increasingly digital world. As these companies continue to innovate, they are setting a precedent for how trade finance can evolve to meet the needs of contemporary businesses.
