SBCI continues to drive greater financing choice for SMEs and competition with first invoice finance partner
13 July 2016: The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and Bibby Financial Services Ireland (BFSI) have today announced a new lower-cost invoice financing fund for Irish SMEs.
An extension of SBCI’s on-going efforts to drive competition and choice in the Irish lending market, today’s announcement sees €45 million in funding being made available to Irish businesses. The agreement enables businesses to access favourable rates for BFSIs invoice finance facilities and is available immediately.
Invoice financing frees up cash for businesses by providing upfront payment against the value of outstanding invoices. Leading independent funder, BFSI, becomes SBCI’s first invoice finance partner, fourth non-bank provider and seventh on-lending partner.
Speaking of the launch, Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD said:
“I welcome Bibby Financial Services Ireland’s addition to the SBCI’s range of on-lenders. This latest partnership with BFSI will provide an additional €45 million in lower cost funding to Irish SMEs. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the Irish economy so ensuring the finance needs of these businesses are met in today’s economic environment is therefore a priority. Bibby Financial Services is the UK’s leading independent invoice finance specialist with a global presence and will now combine SBCI finance with its wealth of experience and expertise to the Irish market for the benefit of SMEs both domestic and those who serve the UK market and other markets further afield.
“This new €45 million package further diversifies the funding available to SMEs at a critical time for Irish businesses especially those who include exports to the UK as part of their sales. It is a welcome fact that Bibby Financial Services is a global business with a strong presence throughout the UK and Ireland. Irish SMEs are now in a position to benefit from SBCI funding available through an expert Invoice Finance provider.”
Steve Box, International CEO at BFS commented:
“We are delighted to announce our partnership with SBCI and to become its first invoice finance partner. This agreement will act as stimulus to the Irish economy and forms part of our overall aim to support an increasing number of businesses in Ireland.
“At a time where there is some uncertainty in markets across Europe, the most basic support that SMEs need to grow and scale-up their businesses is access to finance. Our €45m facility agreed with SBCI will enable us to deliver lower cost, more flexible and competitive funding solutions to SMEs throughout Ireland. While there is still a high level of dependency on traditional banks amongst SMEs, we are seeing a growing appetite for alternative sources of finance and we look forward to helping Irish businesses to thrive and grow, both domestically and internationally.”
SBCI CEO Nick Ashmore said:
“The SBCI is here to enable the delivery of better SME financing options and to drive greater competition and we are very pleased to welcome BFSI as our newest on-lender as we strive to broaden out the choices available to SMEs. BFSI is a global market leader in the provision of invoice finance and a high quality potential financing partner to Irish SMEs.
“This facility will considerably strengthen BFSI’s ability to serve the Irish market and provide a more competitive product. We are particularly excited to be working with BFSI, given the important support invoice finance offers businesses looking to grow.”
Bernard O’Hare, Managing Director for BFS Ireland said:
“Fundamentally, we’re a relationship based funder and we pride ourselves on providing responsive and flexible funding. It’s here that we can add real value, particularly at a time where immediate access to finance is more important than ever for Irish SMEs.