Customer deals directly with decision-makers at Sasfin DISPENSING WITH bureaucratic red tape to provide a speedier, user-friendly trade finance option is the objective of international finance house Sasfin.
Trade finance marketing director Maurice van Bergen describes the company as a financier offering facilities which are complementary to what banking services are all about.
Banks are fairly large, bureaucratic organisations. Importers and exporters on the other hand often need to move more rapidly. This is where we come in. While the service may cost more than banks will charge, efficiency and flexibility afford the business greater opportunities, he said.
If a client, for example, imports from overseas, he can go to his bank and get a letter of credit opened. This will be taken out of his banking facilities which may adversely affect his cash flow for the duration of the payment.
To go through the bank to have those facilities increased can be a lengthy process, as is the processing time of establishing a letter of credit.
We would deal with such a customer directly. He would approach us, we would assess his position and grant him a facility in a relatively short period of time, often within days.
We also give the importer credit for the term of the operating cycle of what he is importing. If he needs a period of 90 to 120 days to turn what he has bought into cash, we will look at financing the transaction for that period of time so that it falls in line with the cash flow. Van Bergen believes that dealing directly with the decision-makers is a big benefit at Sasfin. All account executives are present at credit meetings to support and motivate any applications.
Customers at all times have direct access to the decision-makers who have their interests at heart, says Van Bergen.
Although a large part of Sasfin's business is import finance, its portfolio doesn't end there.
At Sasfin we will find a way of dealing with a proposition at hand as opposed to having set facilities.
If an opportunity presents itself we will develop it. Sasfin was established in 1951 and has been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since 1987. It is the only trade finance organisation which is not linked to a bank and prides itself on its independent status.
It has over the years increased its service range which now includes confidential invoice discounting, a facility linked to the company's sales which effectively converts business from credit to cash. This accelerates cash flow, sustains growth and allows the company to continue granting credit terms to its customers.
Sasfin also finances equipment (plant, machinery, vehicles and office automation) through instalment sale, financial lease, operating rental and unit hire.
Through its recently acquired strategic alliance with MDM Growth Investments, it can assist with the structuring of equity participation funding.
The package is completed by Sasfin insurance brokers and the recently established logistics arm, Hecny Sasfin Freight.
This one-stop approach is one of the reasons for Sasfin's flexibility, in Van Bergen's view. If we can control the consignment, we can be more liberal in our finance approach.
