InstaPay Debuts Trade Finance Offering For Amazon Merchants

As merchants on Amazon are encountering a high burden because of COVID-19, InstaPay is rolling out a new offering that provides payments to those selling on the platform each day. Amazon, for its part, reportedly provides payments to merchants roughly bi-weekly and holds back a sizable amount for potential reimbursements, according to reports.

InstaPay COO Sam Bokher said in an announcement per reports, “Due to the global lockdown, people have ramped up online purchases and more companies have flocked to Amazon and other eCommerce platforms to sell online. We launched this new service to provide businesses with an opportunity to grow simultaneously with the marketplace, rather than with a two-week delay.”

As merchants typically need to provide payments to their vendors ahead of time, the two-week delay makes for a break in cash flow. The new offering from InstaPay, which funds between half and 80 percent of sales and takes 1 percent to 2 percent of sales volume as a fee for each financing, possibly tackles the challenge.

InstaPay by default takes the current balance at the time that Amazon provides payment to the merchant. As a result, small businesses can reportedly dedicate resources to scaling and buying more merchandise to sell.

The news comes as financial institutions are becoming more keen on a bevy of offerings to enhance business cross-border trade in a worldwide market that has a large dearth of finance accessibly.

Researchers in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Global Survey 2018 report discovered supply chain finance to lead priorities at banks, as 42 percent of those polled prioritized expansion in supply chain finance in the coming year.

Trade finance is still a key tool for cross-border B2B trade. And, with an estimated gap in available trade finance of $1.5 trillion, companies that aren’t banks have entered the market to meet the need and bring streamlining to a sector of finance that has been traditionally burdened by manual procedures, paper and heavy compliance mandates.