First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) became the first bank to join the FACTORING HUB online platform, created specifically for quick and convenient approval of suppliers' financing on deferred payment for participation in tenders.

This means that all potential suppliers will be able to apply for factoring services before participating in Prozorro public procurement and, if agreed, will participate in the tender, knowing in advance that the bank will provide them with financing.

"There are many small companies on the market that provide really high quality and professional services, but which, unfortunately, do not always have enough working capital to fulfill government orders. Pre-agreed financing from the bank can significantly facilitate the access of small businesses to participation in public procurement. I am confident that the new online plattform will help a bunch of companies to become public,” says Serhiy Mahdych, FUIB's Deputy Chairman of the Board of corporate business.

FUIB factoring is in high demand in the market among small and medium-sized businesses: last year alone, the bank doubled its portfolio, reaching UAH 1.7 billion. Factoring is a convenient financial tool for those companies that work with enterprises on deferred payment terms. It allows SME companies not only to obtain working capital financing at a fairly low cost (not higher than the cost of lending) and in a short time up to 2 days (without financial analysis and with a minimum package of documents), but also to receive the bank's support in the relations with clients: get a certain guarantee of payment under the contract, which is transferred to factoring.

One of the advantages of FUIB factoring is the electronic (paperless) format of work, in which documents are signed with the help of CEP (qualified electronic signature) through certified platforms. 

Currently, the first to use the FACTORING HUB platform to order financing will be companies that will participate in the public procurement of the all-Ukrainian postal operator UKRPOSHTA. The list of state-owned companies will be expanded in the near future.

The creation of FACTORING HUB was made possible by the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, Prozorro State Enterprise, the Reform Support Team of the SME Development Office, as well as a team of volunteer developers. The USAID Competitive Economy of Ukraine (CEU) program, through a grant recipient - Redka NGO - will further support the development and promotion of the online platform and thereby will promote and improve the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ukraine.