UniCredit teams with fintech Taulia to boost trade finance capacity
UniCredit, one of Italy’s largest banks, has partnered with San Francisco-based start-up, Taulia, to up the capacity of its existing supply chain finance platform.
The bank, which holds roughly €827.1 billion in assets under management, will use the fintech’s capabilities to serve a larger number of clients – both domestically and internationally, including its 13 core European markets and its 18 markets outside Europe.
UniCredit’s clients will have access to both bank-funded supply chain finance, and self-funded dynamic discounting
The fintech, which offers supply chain financing, cash forecasting and electronic invoicing, will help the Italian bank to integrate into its clients’ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. It says the fintech partnership “serves to round out UniCredit’s diverse toolbox of working capital solutions”.
The economic impact of the coronavirus crisis has highlighted the urgent need for banks to offer tailored working capital solutions to its corporate clients, and to be able to offer these solutions on a mass scale.
“Supply chain resilience and working capital optimisation have become increasingly critical topics for many corporates in recent months, with more and more treasurers looking to execute their processes remotely,” says UniCredit’s global transaction banking co-head, Luca Corsini.
As a result of the partnership, UniCredit’s clients will have access to both bank-funded supply chain finance, and self-funded dynamic discounting – a feature offered by Taulia – in the bank’s early payment programmes.
The idea is that clients will be able to build up “resilient supply chains” by providing working capital stability and transparency to their suppliers.
The fintech already has network of two million businesses – including Nissan, Vodafone and Airbus –using its technology, and it says it processed more than $500 billion every year.
For Taulia, this partnership means the fintech can extend its offering across Europe “to help clients digitise and free up working capital,” says EMEA managing director, Michael Rieskamp.
“We believe our partnership will make an immediate difference to corporates’ ability to manage liquidity in uncertain times,” adds Rieskamp.
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