State Bank Of India Partners With Invoicemart

State Bank of India announced that it has joined digital invoice discounting marketplace Invoicemart as a financier, a move that will make working capital available for more than 1,400 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Initiatives such as the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) are expected to be a major source of financing for the MSME market. Launched in 2017, Invoicemart currently has 22 financiers on its platform, and it is expected to reach 25 by the end of this month.

“Elevating the MSME segment has been a prime focus at State Bank of India, and TReDS has been substantial in helping this segment with easy financing options. We have taken several steps to ensure timely delivery of credit to MSMEs through other initiatives, and this association is another step towards the process of digitization,” said Narayanan Sadanandan, chief general manager (SME and supply chain finance), State Bank of India.

MSMEs play an important role in the Indian economy, and a number of commercial and private sector banks have already registered on the TReDS platform.

“We are glad that India’s largest and oldest bank – State Bank of India — has come on board the Invoicemart platform. State Bank of India has had a huge franchise in supporting MSME financial inclusion, and this association will not only help with formalizing and digitizing the MSME lending process, but will also pave a way for MSMEs to find cheap financing options in a transparent and easy manner via TReDs,” said Kalyan Basu, CEO & MD, A.TReDS Ltd.

“Our team understands the challenges faced by MSMEs in obtaining working capital finance and the systemic gaps in the financial ecosystem. With the help of technology, it is our endeavor to bridge the gap that has prevented institutional lenders from reaching out to small businesses, primarily due to high cost of acquisition through the offline channels,” added Basu.