A supply chain finance (SCF) initiative has been announced by UniCredit, which will see the bank collaborate with FinDynamic, an Italian fintech start-up offering dynamic discounting programs, as it aims to enhance its working capital offering for corporate clients.

As part of the agreement, UniCredit has also taken a minority equity stake in the business, “highlighting the bank’s willingness to partner with the right fintechs in order to drive innovation.”

FinDynamic’s platform enables both buyers and their suppliers to automatically view invoices and choose approved invoices for early payment.

UniCredit is one of the first banks to join the dynamic discounting platform and the solution is currently in the roll-out phase to corporate customers in Italy. Among those to have already signed up is telecommunications company Unicomm.

Dynamic discounting’s benefits

Announcing the collaboration, UniCredit commented: “Corporates large and small are increasingly searching for effective, tailored working capital solutions to address their individual needs. Dynamic discounting is a solution that allows clients to offer their suppliers early payment of their invoices in exchange for a discount.

“The discount is directly applied to the total amount of the invoice and its value changes dynamically in relation to the number of days discounted from the original invoice's due date. This facilitates the use of the buyer's strong cash position while providing liquidity to their suppliers.

Francesco Giordano, UniCredit's co-CEO of commercial banking for Western Europe added: “UniCredit is strongly committed to developing innovative and efficient solutions for its clients. As part of this, we are collaborating with selected fintechs in order to improve our corporate client offering and meet changing client needs.”

Enrico Viganò, FinDynamic’s founder and CEO, described the UniCredit deal as a “very important partnership” that would “consolidate our image and gives further authority to our platform.”