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What is supply chain finance?
Supply chain finance is a set of working capital optimisation techniques that allow suppliers to receive early payment on invoices while allowing buyers to extend payment terms — improving cash flow on both sides of a trading relationship. Traditionally arranged through a bank; on Discount Flow, it requires no bank at all.
A Structured Approach to Supply Chain Finance — Without the Bank Fees
Traditional supply chain finance programmes take 6–18 months to implement, require enterprise ERP integrations, and only work for large tier-1 suppliers. Discount Flow gives mid-market companies access to the same working capital benefits — in days, not months, and without a bank.
Two Ways to Optimise Your Supply Chain Cash Flow
Discount Flow
Dynamic early payment discounting. Suppliers offer a small discount in exchange for immediate payment. the Est. Annual % is typically 12–24% on cash they were going to spend anyway. No bank. No intermediary. Direct.
- No Cost Enterprise Plan for suppliers
- Setup in under a day
- No ERP integration required
- the Est. Annual % is typically 12–24%
Profit Flow
Refundable Customer Deposit documentation. A buyer advances funds to a supplier they already trade with; the supplier repays the deposit plus Interest at the end of the agreed term. Both parties e-sign the agreement. Featherbrooke never holds funds.
- Simple interest, agreed upfront
- 6 or 12-month terms
- Fully refundable deposit
- Featherbrooke never holds funds
Direct Supply Chain Finance vs Bank-Arranged SCF
| Discount Flow | Bank-Arranged SCF | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to implement | 1 day | 6–18 months |
| ERP integration | Not required | Required |
| Minimum supplier tier | Any supplier | Tier-1 only (typically) |
| Bank approval required | None | Full credit review |
| Cost to suppliers | No Cost Enterprise Plan | Discount rate + bank margin |
| Who funds early payment | Buyer's own cash | Bank facility |
| Balance sheet impact (buyer) | None | Credit facility drawdown |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is supplier financing, and how does it work without a bank?
Supplier financing (also called supplier finance) is any arrangement that gets a supplier paid before an invoice's due date. Bank-led programmes use a funder. With Discount Flow's dynamic discounting software the buyer pays early from its own cash in exchange for a discount the two parties agree, so no bank or third-party funder is involved.
Is supply chain finance the same as reverse factoring?
Reverse factoring is a specific form of bank-arranged supply chain finance where the bank pays the supplier early and the buyer repays the bank. Dynamic discounting on Discount Flow achieves the same outcome — supplier gets paid early — but uses the buyer's own cash rather than a bank facility. There is no factoring, no bank, and no debt created.
Does a supplier need to apply or be approved?
No. There is no credit application, no financial assessment, and no approval process. Any supplier can register for the No Cost Enterprise Plan and start creating offers immediately.
How does the buyer benefit from a supply chain finance arrangement?
With Discount Flow, buyers translate paid-early dollars into a clean annualized cost-of-capital (12–24% annualized equivalent) on cash used for early payment. They also strengthen supplier relationships, reduce supply chain risk from cash-stressed suppliers, and can access structured deposit returns through Profit Flow.
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