- Smart financing solution to enhance supply chain collaborations with Choithram’s extensive supplier base
- Enables retailer to optimise working capital and achieve operational efficiencies
Dubai, UAE: Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North and Turkey) region, has onboarded Middle East grocery retailer and food distributor T. Choithram & Sons to pilot the bank’s smartSCF digital Supply Chain Financing platform.
Emirates NBD’s state-of-the-art smartSCF platform caters to the growing need for digitisation of supply chain management and financing, which has emerged as one of the key priorities for corporate clients across industries.
Through the smartSCF platform, Choithrams will digitise its payable process across the region, and benefit from improved cash flow and working capital efficiencies. The retailer’s extensive supplier base will also benefit from early payment of their invoices without the need for collateral and at competitive rates.
Choithram’s suppliers will be able to self-onboard via the platform’s digital supplier on-boarding toolkit, one of the first of its kind in the region, significantly increasing operational efficiencies at both ends of the process.
Additionally, smartSCF’s enhanced data analytics tools such as interactive dashboards and customised reports will help Choithrams gain visibility across the supply chain process, from supplier onboarding to payment and reconciliation as well as cashflows.
“We are delighted to onboard Choithrams to our digital supply chain platform that will help increase operational efficiencies for their retail operations and their suppliers, while optimising their working capital,” said Ahmed Al Qassim, Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head, Corporate and Institutional Banking, Emirates NBD. “smartSCF provides ecosystem financing by infusing liquidity in the physical supply chain of UAE corporates. Developed to meet the growing need for more integrated and automated tools, smartSCF is one of the few Supply Chain platforms that offers simplified digital onboarding making it easier for corporate buyers to extend the facility to a large number of suppliers. As the country’s preferred corporate bank and frontrunner in the region’s banking sector, we continue to gain in reputation as trusted providers of smart, innovative solutions that enhance the ease of doing business and support the UAE’s drive towards digitisation in all aspects of business.”
Abhishek Mundra, Chief Financial Officer at T. Choithram & Sons, added: “The past year, in particular, has greatly driven us to look at ways to optimise operational and working capital efficiencies, while continuing to scale our business and supplier base. We are excited to make the move to digitise our supply chain finance processes and look forward to reaping the many potential benefits of such enhanced visibility.”
About Emirates NBD:
Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading Banking Group in the MENAT region. As at 31st March 2021, total assets were AED 695 Billion, (equivalent to approx. USD 187 Billion). The acquisition of DenizBank represents a significant milestone for Emirates NBD with the Group expanding its presence to 13 countries, servicing over 14 million customers. The Group is ranked among the top 20 in the Forbes’ list of the World’s Best Regarded Companies, securing a leading spot among global brands.
The Group has a significant retail banking franchise in the UAE and is a key participant in the global digital banking industry with 94% of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The Group announced the creation of E20., a digital business bank for entrepreneurs and SMEs while Liv., the lifestyle digital bank for millennials continued to be the fastest growing retail proposition in the UAE. Emirates NBD was named ‘UAE’s Best Bank’ in 2020 for a fifth consecutive year by Euromoney. In addition, Emirates NBD received the ‘Excellence in Leadership in the Middle East’ award, introduced in 2020 in light of the Covid-19 impact, as a recognition of its efforts in responding to the Covid-19 crisis. The Bank is ranked 87th in The Banker’s list of the World’s Top 1,000 Banks. Emirates NBD was named ‘Bank of the Year – UAE 2020’ for the sixth year and ‘Bank of the Year – Middle East 2020’ for the third time by The Banker. In addition, Emirates NBD has been assessed as the ‘Strongest Bank in the UAE’ and ‘Fifth Strongest Bank in the Middle East’ by The Asian Banker 500 Largest and Strongest Banks Rankings.
The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Turkey, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 907 branches and 4,032 ATMs / SDMs. The Group has a large social media following, being the only bank in the Middle East ranked among the top 20 in the ‘Power 100 Social Media Rankings’, compiled by The Financial Brand for 2019. Emirates NBD is a major player in the UAE corporate segment and has strong Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management, global markets & treasury and brokerage operations.
Emirates NBD is an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development and community initiatives, in close alignment with the UAE government’s strategies, including financial literacy and advocacy for inclusion of People with Disabilities under its #TogetherLimitless platform. The Group is recognised for the pioneering efforts in employee volunteering and corporate social responsibility by IMPACT2030, the corporate volunteering arm of the United Nations. Emirates NBD Group is a Premier Partner and the Official Banking Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai.
