The May round table meeting for the Working Capital Forum saw treasurers from seven multinationals gather to discuss ways of encouraging supplier take-up of supply chain finance programmes, in a meeting sponsored, as usual by American Express. Of the firms represented around the virtual table, four had SCF programmes in place and three were still considering them. Of those who were already running them, most had relatively low supplier take-up of 10% or less. Only one had seen the programme grow to reach up to 90% of suppliers in several different regions. Several treasurers mentioned the complexity of supplier onboarding from a supplier perspective with some older programmes still requiring complex, document-based KYC procedures which were a real disincentive to many smaller businesses. For those around the table, the idea of ‘one click’ onboarding through a cloud-based portal was appealing and could improve adoption. Among the other topics raised during the 90-minutes conversation (held under the Chatham House Rule) were: ESG objectives for working capital programmes
Payment terms and the Prompt payment code
The Greensill effect
The Working Capital Forum holds virtual round tables at least once a month, where our members discuss issues of mutual interest in an off-the-record environment. If you are a corporate treasurer or procurement director and would like to join a future Working Capital Forum round table, you can register your interest here.
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