In the fast-moving landscape of global trade, seamless financial processes, timely access to financing and strategic risk management are crucial for companies running complex operations around the world.
Asia Fisheries is one such company. Established in 2019, it brings quality wild-caught and farmed seafood products to customers around the world, including Singapore, USA, UK, Australia and Japan.
Asia Fisheries navigates cross-border transactions across four continents on an almost-daily basis. However, traditional financing methods have posed significant difficulties to their ability to carry out these transactions smoothly and quickly.
Fortunately, ODIN, a platform designed to facilitate cross-border payments and processes, helped to solve this.
Trade financing is the lubricant for global trade– a delicate balance amongst traders, suppliers and lenders. Asia Fisheries needed loans to finance their suppliers’ invoices, but they faced some uphill battles.
Asia Fisheries was in a unique situation as a company that recently restarted its global trading activities. That meant that there was a lack of historical transactions that lenders could use to effectively assess the risks of their loans. These led to loan terms that were not optimal – as such, Asia Fisheries experienced delays in financing approvals, increased costs, challenges in deploying funds effectively and ultimately, impeded growth opportunities – especially detrimental to an SME.
ODIN helped to address the challenges faced by Asia Fisheries in three key steps:
Asia Fisheries saved up to 30% in foreign exchange costs with ODIN.
The lag time between trades shortened from two months to two weeks, thanks to ODIN’s invoice financing. This enabled accelerated business growth for Asia Fisheries. To date, up to US$1.5m invoices have been financed through ODIN.
Their lenders have also enjoyed enhanced risk mitigation – with improved visibility and control over the financing process, risks associated with funding uncertainties have been reduced.
Through ODIN, Asia Fisheries has experienced improved financial management and also unlocked new avenues for growth and efficiency in its global trade operations.
Asia Fisheries’ case study exemplifies how fintech innovations like ODIN, built for traders by traders, can provide powerful solutions for complex financial processes and thus, drive business growth.
Reach out to talk to us about how ODIN could support your global trade financing needs.