Mr. Li, a small auto parts retailer in Xiangfan, Hubei Province, recently became obsessed with the Internet. Rather than chatting and playing games online, Li was busy with using ICBC's Corporate Internet Banking services to check the cash collection progress after his goods was delivered to Dongfeng Automobile and make online application for loans. "Sitting in my office, I can now upload the order forms, make financing applications, and even withdraw money and repay the loans. It is so convenient no need to go to the bank every day any more!" Mr. Li said happily.
An ICBC official said, ICBC has recently introduced the online supply chain finance service to better cater for the financing needs of small businesses, like Mr. Li, a small supplier to large companies. Simply by a few mouse clicks and some easy procedures, customers can log on ICBC's website and apply for loans, upload or confirm orders, make withdrawals, payments and repayments, as well as check accounts, within their contracted credit limit.
The online supply chain finance service is part of ICBC's platform that has been put into operation for the business in July this year. Through Internet Banking, Bank-Enterprises Interlink and other electronic channels, the platform provides full spectrum of integrated financial services for key enterprises and their upstream and downstream firms ranging from supply chain member management, information management to financing and settlement.
Under the new service, suppliers or distributors make loan applications on ICBC's Internet Banking which will automatically generate an electronic instruction sent to the management system in the platform. Thus the account manager will be informed of the customer's financing request in the first time and start the review and approval process of the loan contract.
As such platform enables real-time information sharing on financing, commerce and trade, all the three parties, key enterprises, their upstream and downstream firms along the supply chain as well as the bank, can keep track the transaction progress, such as whether the key customer has confirmed, received loans or made full payments, via Internet Banking or management system in a timely and accurate manner.
This results in a win-win between ICBC and the companies in that corporate customers enjoy convenient services and ICBC effectively controls the risks.
According to industrial experts, as China is moving to a more market-oriented economy and the social division of labor is evolving, competition in the real economy has changed from the competition among individual enterprises to the supply chain competition centered on key companies. Developing the supply chain finance has become one of ICBC's prioritized strategies to snatch more market share and cultivate new core competences in future.
In the past years, ICBC has developed a pipeline of fundamental supply chain financial products related to corporate customers' business cycle, settlement method, industrial category, and market type Diverse and tailored proposals have been worked out to meet the various financial needs of companies along the supply chain.
This year, ICBC has launched trials of the innovative cross-region supply chain finance and successfully signed up with Wuhan Iron and Steel Group, Dongfeng Group, Midea Group and other core enterprises. By far, ICBC has signed 1,657 core customers for its domestic trade finance service, driving the robust growth of its supply chain finance business.
