Hub offering financing services for SME's
International Factors (Singapore) Ltd. (IFS) announced on Friday the launch of Singapore's first online factoring hub, called IntFactor.
Developed and hosted by Commerce Exchange (Comex), the IntFactor will be a virtual marketplace for buyers and sellers to trade online.
The services it offers includes sourcing of goods and services, raising purchase orders, invoicing and monitoring the status of a purchase.
In addition, IntFactor also offers financing for these online transactions by giving sellers a cash advance on their sales upon submission of delivery orders.
Incorporated in 1987, IFS is an established financial institution and a leading factoring company in Singapore whose clientele consists mainly of SME's.
Factoring is a form of financing involving an arrangement between a company and a financial institution like IFS, under which the latter purchases the company's accounts receivable.
The factor will make an advance payment of up to 90% of the value of receivable purchased. The balance is held in a contingencies reserve and refunded (less the interest charge and factoring fees due to the factor) after the receivable have been collected.
IntFactor will be the first internet hub that offers such services.
“We are not just another B2B e-commerce hub providing a virtual trading platform for buyers and suppliers to interact," Said Leong Kwok Seng, General Manager of IFS, "our strength is in providing funding for electronic transactions that take place in our hub. Through our fully-integrated electronic factoring service, clients will be able to minimize their paperwork and gain cash advances in a matter of minutes from the time they invoice their customers. ”
Comex, on the other hand, is a home-grown e-marketplace solutions provider jointly incorporated in 1999 by VISA International, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and Venture TDF Pte Ltd.
It offers complete e-business solutions for trading online with programs such as BecomeCo that helps SME's launch their e-commerce initiatives quickly and efficiently.