Berlin-based fintech Billie announced it will now offer small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) invoice financing, following an agreement with internet technology and financial services provider Wirecard.
Crowdfund Insider reported Billie will offer SMBs and freelancers the opportunity to pre-finance their invoices by purchasing all liabilities from third parties and settling the outstanding amount.
According to Christian Grobe, founder of Billie, it takes just a few clicks with Billie for an SMB to receive up to €200,000 without any long-term, binding commitment.
“Invoices can be easily uploaded with the result that the invoice amount is paid out in full immediately,” said Grobe. “There are practically no companies below the 10 million Euro sales mark in Germany which use factoring to a significant extent as a form of funding. This means that the market potential is very high and we are seeing a veritable boom in Germany at the moment.”
The German Factoring Association revealed sales rose by 3.77 percent in 2016 to total €216.8 billion. Small businesses often prefer factoring because it offers a more attractive funding alternative compared to lending, while investors find having a secured asset can be quite compelling.
“We are delighted to have gained another FinTech company in the form of Billie and support promising, innovative start-ups which may benefit not only from our experience in the field of FinTechs, but also from our technical solutions for payment processing and digitization of processes,” said Thorsten Holten, executive vice president of sales financial institution and FinTech Europe at Wirecard. “In addition to all this, our clients can take advantage of our banking license when needed.”
Wirecard also revealed this year it would partner with AFEX to launch prepaid corporate money cards with cross-border payment capabilities across Europe. The cards will be marketed to European businessesin a range of industries including oil and gas, legal, business aviation, travel management, shipping and construction.
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