Bibby Financial Services Ireland offers new lower-cost invoice financing fund

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Bibby Financial Services Ireland (BFSI), in partnership with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), has launched a €45m invoice financing fund for Irish small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). BFSI is the first invoice finance partner of SBCI, and will provide invoice finance funds with a discount of up to 1.5% on existing BFSI facility rates.

A new, lower-cost fund of €45m has been made available to Irish SMEs, following the announcement of a new partnership between Bibby Financial Services Ireland and the SBCI.

The fund is an extension of SBCI’s on-going efforts to drive competition and choice in the Irish lending market and will enable businesses to access favourable rates for BFSI’s invoice finance facilities. The funding is available immediately and will enable SMEs to access a discount of up to 1.5% on existing BFSI facility rates.

This partnership is more than timely in providing SMEs throughout Ireland with flexible and competitive funding solutions.

Invoice financing, a business-to-business solution, offers immediate access to cash tied-up in invoices by providing businesses upfront payment against the value of the outstanding invoice. It is simple and speedy to set up and, because it is linked directly to the value of trade debtors, it grows in line with the SME requirement. This is a huge advantage over other forms of finance as the visibility of debt being funded allows us to tailor funding to individual needs, often providing greater levels of funding than an overdraft or loan, for instance.

Among the benefits of invoice finance include:

  • Immediate access to cash tied up in trade debtors– up to 90% cash release;
  • Finance that grows in line with a business’s sales growth. The sales ledger is used to secure access to funds, so as your business grows, so does the amount of funds that can be made available;
  • Eligible debt includes domestic and export sales;
  • Bad Debt Protection (option to protect your business against customer insolvency);
  • Disclosed and confidential facilities including option of full service credit control and sales ledger management tailored to suit a business;
  • Funding of up to €5m with minimum facility period of 24 months to avail of the SBCI lower rates.

To avail of the lower-cost funding, companies must be independent enterprises employing fewer than 250 persons, with an annual turnover not exceeding €50m and/or an annual balance sheet under €43m.

Invoice finance is now a truly mainstream funding product and a vital source of funding for Irish companies. Last year, Irish SMEs availed of €52m in invoice finance provided by BFSI, which was an increase of almost 28% on approval levels in 2014.  BFSI is committed to keeping the ambitions of Irish businesses moving, ensuring that viable businesses of all sizes have certainty with access to the necessary finance which will enable them to grow and expand their business.

Bernard O’Hare, Managing Director for BFS Ireland said:  We are delighted to partner with SBCI to deliver lower cost, more flexible and competitive funding solutions to SMEs throughout Ireland. We pride ourselves on providing responsive and flexible funding. It’s here that we can add real value, particularly at a time where immediate access to finance is more important than ever for Irish SMEs. We look forward to helping businesses to thrive and grow, both domestically and internationally.”

Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD, welcomed Bibby to the SBCI’s stable of on-lenders.

He said: “SMEs are the lifeblood of the Irish economy so ensuring the finance needs of these businesses are met in today’s economic environment is therefore a priority…This new €45 million package further diversifies the funding available to SMEs at a critical time for Irish businesses especially those who include exports to the UK as part of their sales.”

For more information, see bibbyfinancialservices.ie.