On January 24th and 25th, the 10th edition of the Supply Chain Finance Summit which every year brings together experts from the Confirming sector, was held in Madrid. Alvantia has once again sponsored the event.
This meeting, organized by BCR Publishing in collaboration with Factors Chain International and the Spanish Factoring Association, was divided into two days.
During the first one, the evolution of the Supply Chain Finance product over the last 10 years was analyzed. In the seven panels organized for this first session, the specialists placed special emphasis on SMEs and on the most effective strategies to make the SCF product more accessible to this types of company.
The latest changes within the regulatory framework and their impact on the SCF sector were also addressed, as well as the main challenges that organizations have encountered when integrating ESG and sustainability principles into SCF programs.
Our colleagues had the opportunity to talk about the best practices of Spanish Confirming in emerging markets, especially in Latin America, where electronic invoicing has marked a before and an after. As commented by Joaquín Jiménez, on behalf of the Colombian company Finamco,“the regulator in Chile, Peru and Colombia has done a great job, really visionary when designing the electronic invoice infrastructure, which allows financial inclusion even for micro-SMEs, which can also benefit from Factoring; this is a great example for European countries to follow.”
José Antonio Garrote, Business Manager of Alvantia, spoke of the company’s experience in the Latin American market, in which “the biggest challenge was to adapt our platform to connect it with electronic invoicing systems”. Garrote also highlighted the technological capabilities of Alvantia at an innovation level, especially in the field of Machine Learning applied to the trade financing. In this regard, he commented on the advantages that machine learning based on experience can bring to the Factoring and Confirming sector, highlighting the following: reconciliation of collections, maximizing sales, avoiding fraud and early detection of risks.
Garrote also participated in the panel “Emerging technologies shaping the future of SCF – innovations, trends and transformation”, which was moderated by David Hennah. Garrote exchanged views with other experts in an interesting debate in which they analyzed, among other topics, the impact of certain technologies on the SCF and how they have necessarily transformed the product. In this regard, participants highlighted the crucial role that technology plays in mitigating risks, increasing security, preventing fraud and improving decision-making processes.
During the second day, experts focused especially on the impact of fintechs in the sector and the collaborative models between these companies and traditional financial institutions. Real cases of sustainable SCF initiatives were also presented (and their impact on communities traditionally excluded from the financing sector was analyzed) and future trends in the dynamic SCF market were discussed.
The 10th edition of the SCFS was a magnificent meeting point to keep abreast of the latest news and exchange impressions with professionals from the main companies in the sector.
