Trade finance

Trade finance for stock and supplier payments.

Pay your supplier now, repay at the end of the trade cycle. Suits importers, exporters and wholesalers funding purchase orders, locally or overseas.

You don’t pay to compare.

No credit file impact · No cost to compare · No obligation

Trade finance at a glance

Amount: $50,000 to $10,000,000+
Term: Each drawdown runs one trade cycle, typically 30 to 120 days
Security: The goods and their trade documents, plus a director’s guarantee
Time to funds: Varies by lender
How you pay: At the end of the agreed trade cycle

Indicative, and subject to lender assessment. Your options are typically ready within 24 hours of receiving your documents.

Is it right for you?

When trade finance fits, and when it doesn’t.

Often fits

Paying a supplier before your customer pays you
Funding a purchase order or shipment
Importing, exporting or wholesaling
Repeat trade: a new cycle can start when the last one settles

Usually not

Waiting on invoices you’ve already issued, where invoice finance may fit
Ongoing costs like wages and rent, where a line of credit may fit

Business funding, compared on real data, in three steps.

How It Works

Compared

Trade finance or invoice finance?

Trade finance or invoice finance
	Trade finance	Invoice finance
When it pays out	Before you pay your supplier for goods or stock	After you’ve already invoiced your customer
What it’s secured against	Goods being traded, letters of credit and trade documents	Your unpaid customer invoices
Best suited to	Importers, exporters, and wholesalers funding purchase orders	Businesses waiting on customer payment terms

What it costs

How you pay, and what it costs.

Rate: Shown for each option in your report, with the APR beside it
Letters of credit: Typically add a further 0.5 to 2% of the letter of credit value
Repayment: At the end of the agreed trade cycle

Who qualifies

What lenders look for.

Typical criteria, and subject to lender assessment.

Facility size: Sized against your revenue and your confirmed purchase orders
Security: Usually the goods and trade documents, plus a director’s guarantee
Larger facilities: May also take business assets or property

Trade finance calculator

See what bridging the payment gap actually costs.

Unlike invoice finance, which funds an invoice you’ve already issued, trade finance pays out before the goods are even bought. Adjust the slider for an indicative facility fee over a 90-day trade cycle.

Rates shown are simple p.a.; your report shows the APR.
Results are approximate. Not an offer of credit.

Purchase order / supplier payment value$500,000

$50k$5M

Funded to your supplier: $450,000
Facility fee: $11,081

Illustrative only, assuming a 90-day trade cycle, an indicative 9.85% p.a. facility fee rate and a 90% funded amount: you pay the other 10% and the fee. Real facility fees depend on the lender and security. Your Compare Report shows the exact rate, term, and funded amount each lender offers your business.

Questions about trade finance.

What exactly is trade finance and how does it work?

Trade finance is a broad term covering financial products that facilitate international and domestic trade. In its simplest form, a trade finance facility pays your suppliers on your behalf, and you repay the lender after an agreed period, typically 30 to 120 days. This means you can receive and sell goods before you need to pay for them, preserving your working capital.

How is trade finance different from invoice finance?

Trade finance funds the gap before goods are purchased: it pays your supplier so stock or materials can be shipped. Invoice finance funds the gap after a sale, unlocking cash tied up in an invoice you’ve already issued to your customer. They can be used together across the same trade cycle, but they solve different ends of the problem.

What security do trade finance lenders require?

Trade finance is often secured by the goods being traded, with the supporting trade documents (letters of credit, bills of lading, invoices) forming part of the security. Some lenders also require a General Security Agreement over your business assets, a personal guarantee from directors, or in some cases property security for larger facilities.

How do we get paid?

Comparing costs you nothing. Not comparing can cost you plenty.

The headline rate rarely tells the whole story. Fees, charges and loan terms can add far more to what you repay. That’s why your Compare Report shows every cost we can identify side by side.

In most cases, the lender pays us, and only if you decide to proceed with their product offer. For more complex deals, or where the lender pays us little or nothing, we may charge a fee for our service. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s shown on your Compare Report and we’ll walk you through it before you decide.

No obligation to proceed, ever.

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