The power of digital trade – Neferti

How did a fast-growing trading company streamline its payment processes and free up working capital using HSBC TradePay?

“Instant” is a growing need in global trade. Businesses need the ability to pay suppliers, apply for working capital loans and complete documentation requirements at pace and with ease. This is particularly true when a company works with a wide range of partners across markets and currencies. In the past, this often meant businesses would incur slower payments compounded by a highly manual transaction process. Now, there’s little time for such tradeoffs in efficiency because capturing opportunities requires the nimbleness to pursue them.

A good problem

Neferti, a Singapore-based trading company specialising in cosmetics, fragrances and other beauty products, understands this well.

As a distributor to e-commerce platforms and retail marketplaces, Neferti works with suppliers around the world to ensure it maintains uninterrupted access to in-demand goods. Their supply chains are diversified across markets and regions including the United States, China, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, and as a result they do business across a multitude of currencies.

While having access to such a range of suppliers has been good for growth, complexities began to emerge around payments and access to trade finance. Manual processes were hindering the ability to pay suppliers quickly, manage currency conversions and apply for working capital loans – resulting in efficiency bottlenecks in an environment where speed matters.

Neferti needed a solution that would consolidate and simplify these processes so that they could remain focused on growth and expansion.

Simplifying complexity

Working with HSBC, Neferti adopted HSBC TradePay to streamline how it did business with its suppliers around the world. Using the bank’s online banking platform HSBCnet, Neferti can now process working capital loans in under a minute and provide just-in-time supplier payments. Drawn out manual processes have been replaced with digital, automated and instantaneous capabilities designed specifically to ease the burdens of international trade.

Neferti has seen a wide range of benefits from starting with TradePay:

• Near instant payments meant a quicker release of goods
• Streamlined onboarding resulted in better supplier relations
• Easier application tracking means more efficient trade finance management
• One-step documentation process reduced time spent on loan paperwork
• Consolidated financing and payments on HSBCnet gave greater visibility over trade activities

Success in today’s trade environment requires payment capabilities designed to be quick and reliable. Given their globally diversified supplier base, TradePay helped Neferti turn the corner in how they work with partners and manage those relationships, putting them in strong position to pursue new growth.

Strength to strength

Neferti has been working with HSBC for over five years, receiving support on a wide range of needs as the company has expanded. TradePay is the latest solution put in place to address the challenges around working with a global network of partners.

HSBC’s global network and extensive knowledge of international trade aligned well with Neferti’s needs as it sought to improve its payment and trade finance processes. On top of this, digitising these processes with TradePay has enabled Neferti to successfully prepare for a future where global trade happens fast.

TradePay’s capabilities were designed to anticipate the need for quick, simple payments and efficient access to trade finance. Giving business such as Neferti access to these efficiencies helps ensure they’re able to seize opportunities wherever they emerge.

In today’s trade environment, companies need to balance between having supply options and ensuring resilience, moving fast without compromising product quality, and going digital while avoiding disruptions. Neferti, with HSBC in support, is ready to navigate these complexities and accelerate its growth journey.