Banks world-wide are reducing lending to companies quite dramatically due to the financial crisis and the new regulations such as Basel III, etc. The net result is medium-sized companies and SMEs are being starved of credit, but they still need funds to support their cashflow. All sorts of new lenders are moving into this market, for example:

• First Data in the UK has a Merchant Cash Advance Programme in which the merchant agrees to sell a portion of their future credit card sales at a discount and receive a lump sum cash payment. An agreed percentage of their credit card sales is remitted to repay the Cash Advance during the standard settlement process with First Data each day.
• PayPal has just announced a similar programme: a PayPal Working Capital service in which the funding can be approved in minutes and enables businesses to pay back loans based on a fixed percentage of sales, so if no sales are made on a particular day the repayment is zero.
• Supply Chain Finance programmes are being offered by more and more large companies funded at reduced rates by their banks. However, all too often these SCF programmes are used as an opportunity extend the Days Payables Outstanding
• OB10’s ‘Express Payments’ service (soon to be part of the new Tungsten Group) offers early payment to ALL suppliers on their e-invoicing network. 

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Many suppliers world-wide are very constrained when it comes to capital and cash-flow. The availability of an early payment scheme/a cash advance programme must be a differentiating factor for suppliers choosing whom to supply. Are you doing enough to support your suppliers? How many of your competitors have such schemes in place?