Managing credit risk in global supply chains is still all too often a suboptimal experience for businesses and credit managers relying on suboptimal products from large incumbent trade credit insurers, or costly bank guarantees.

These solutions are showing their limits as global supply chains become more intricate, and customers demand more secure, digital approaches. Bank guarantees and letters of credit give suppliers payment certainty but are costly and slow to set up, often requiring collateral from buyers and heavy paperwork. Trade credit insurance offers protection across a portfolio of receivables, but too often coverage is difficult to track through the life of the policy as exposures change, and claims can take a long time to settle (if they are paid out at all). Both models are hard to integrate into digital workflows, and not always accessible to smaller suppliers.

A new generation of tech-enabled, cloud-first platforms are starting to emerge - and we are proud to have invested in Bondaval, a platform offering a full suite of credit protection solutions, including trade credit and non-payment guarantees (in the style of a surety bond). Bondaval supports credit teams beyond pure risk transfer, with a digital platform that gives them a full view of their covered receivables. By more granular data, Bondaval can offer both greater financial security and an enhanced user experience for policy-holding credit managers and CFOs. Suppliers can reduce administrative burdens, set credit limits dynamically, and manage their receivables more efficiently.