The Best Use of Technology for a Working Capital Project award went to Brazilian pulp and paper producer Suzano for a supply chain finance (SCF) programme in which multiple financial institutions bid against each other to offer financing at the most competitive rate.
Using Monkey Exchange’s innovative reverse-auction technology, the programme has helped reduce the financing spread paid by Suzano’s suppliers by 50% and enabled the company to extend its payment terms by 12 days, or 33%.
Competitive payment options
Suzano had three objectives when it first set out to develop an SCF programme. It wanted to optimise its cash flow by extending its payment terms. But it was also mindful to avoid disrupting relationships with its suppliers, so wanted to provide them with competitive and transparent early payment options from a broad array of funding sources. And it needed a scalable technology solution that would help the company manage and preserve its complex supplier ecosystem and provide a smooth, uninterrupted service regardless of the economic cycle.
Reverse auction technology
In 2021, the company broke from SCF tradition by launching a unique auction-based SCF programme on the Monkey Exchange platform. Unlike the standard SCF model, where a single lender funds early payments to suppliers, Monkey’s reverse auction technology enables multiple financial institutions to compete against each other to offer financing rates to suppliers. The lowest bid wins.
This creates a deep and competitive market place in which suppliers benefit from transparent price discovery. The model helps ensure all financing requests are satisfied and minimises suppliers’ SCF costs.
In Suzano’s programme, up to 15 potential funders automatically pitch real-time bids for each supplier financing request. The solution can be adapted for different industries, so its auction parameters and processes are configured according to the operational cycles of the pulp and paper industry.
Data analytics capabilities also track auction performance and financing rate trends throughout the programme’s life cycle. Analysis of operational data and market feedback allows auction algorithms to be continuously improved.
Measurable impact
The initiative has been hugely impactful for Suzano, which impressed judges with an awards entry that clearly evidenced the programme’s success with detailed metrics.
Suzano has successfully extended its payment terms by 33%, or 12 days. But at the same time, competitive bidding has helped reduce suppliers’ financing costs, despite fluctuations in Brazil’s SELIC benchmark interest rate. For example, financing spreads were down to an average 0.14% as of October 2025 – which represents a 50% reduction from the average spread of 0.14% at programme launch.
Resilient and scalable
The programme’s proven resilience and scalability also won praise from judges. During the four years since implementation, the programme has achieved significant scale, processing over $1.7 billion of finance across 1 million individual payment transactions. Over 1,600 suppliers have been onboarded to the programme, 60% of which actively participate. Out of the 15 lenders that participate, 11 bid regularly.
Despite interest-rate volatility and various regulatory changes, including numerous alterations to Brazil’s tax on financial operations (IFO), the programme has maintained smooth operations since 2021. The strength of the underlying tech architecture has also been evidenced, as auction integrity and the quality of service provided have also been unaffected by the diverse bidding requirements of suppliers and the large volumes passing through the programme.
By illustrating how established, capital-intensive, industrial companies like Suzano can strengthen their complex supply chains while applying fintech capabilities for working capital optimisation, the programme also offers a new model that the working capital finance community can learn from.
“It’s rare for new SCF technologies to have such an immediate and measurable impact on the companies that use them. But by enabling multiple financial institutions to compete for business in real time, Suzano has helped slash its suppliers’ financing costs while extending its own payment terms by 33%,” said Mike Hewitt, CEO of Working Capital Forum. “Its programme not only demonstrates the power of Monkey Exchange’s technology but offers a blueprint for how capital-intensive industrial companies with complex supply chains can successfully apply SCF at scale.”