Mumbai: Invoicemart, a digital invoice discounting platform, announced the successful completion of its first set of transactions today. Invoices raised on Sobha Ltd., West Coast Paper, Intex Technologies, Future Retail and other reputed Corporates by their MSME suppliers were discounted by Axis Bank, to mark the commencement of operations.
Invoicemart is a platform created by A.TREDS, a joint venture of Axis Bank, India’s third largest private bank, and mjunction services ltd., India’s largest B2B e-commerce company.
Lately, fin-techs have been at the forefront of using digital technology to increase availability of funds to MSMEs. TReDS is an attempt by the RBI and Govt. of India to improve access to finance by MSMEs through a digital platform with transparent price discovery mechanism. TReDS (Trade Receivable Discounting System) Guidelines are issued by Reserve Bank of India under Section 10(2) read with Section 18 of Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (Act 51 of 2007).
The sale of invoices will happen by way of a transparent bidding process involving multiple financiers, which will facilitate efficient price discovery, thus lowering cost of funds for MSMEs. Funds disbursed through TReDS will also qualify for priority sector lending benefits for the banks.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.V.Srinivasan ,Deputy Managing Director,Axis Bank, said, “Axis Bank has got a very strong MSME franchise and launching of A-Treds is a reiteration of our commitment to bring cost effective and convenient mode of financing to our MSME customers. I am sure the launching of A-Treds will provide a further impetus for growth for SME customers, a key engine of growth of the Indian economy.”
Mr Vinaya Varma, CEO of mjunction, said, “For mjunction, A.TREDS is a step in line with its mission of using B2B e-marketplace to bring about efficiency and transparency. It is a welcome move by RBI and mjunction is happy to be a promoter of A.TREDS.”
Mr. Kalyan Basu, MD & CEO of Invoicemart, said, “It is a great honour and privilege to be a part of this initiative by Govt of India and RBI. We believe that TReDS will change the landscape of financing of MSMEs in India as well as factoring business. This initiative will benefit all the three participants, the Financier, Buyer and the MSME Seller. The encouragement from the Buyer, Seller and Financier community has further strengthened our resolve to make the game changing initiative of TReDS a truly successful venture.”
The belief that TReDS will benefit buyers was echoed by Mr. J. C. Sharma, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Sobha Ltd. “Invoicemart will enable us to improve the financial health of our vendors, which gives us better control over procurement. Additionally, we will use the platform to streamline our vendor payments and for better management of our cash flows. It is a great initiative; Sobha Ltd. is proud to be the first buyer to be registered on Invoicemart”, Mr. Sharma said.
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