OTP Bank Serbia, ex Societe Generale Serbia, is the first factoring bank in Serbia for the fifth consecutive year.
Representatives of the Bank discussed factoring at Regional Conference on Factoring in CEE and SEE in Belgrade, organized by the international association FCI (previously Factors Chain International Group).
The conference was attended by over 120 bank representatives and factoring companies, as well as financial institutions from across Europe.
Former Societe Generale Bank with new colors and a new name – OTP Bank Serbia continues to cultivate the same values and the same factoring products. The strategy of the OTP Group, which the bank is a member of is to develop factoring in Serbia, having in mind its high level of expertise, its flexibility to meet market needs and its recognition by the current users.
“Since 2014, up to the half-yearly results from 2019 (according to the results of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce) the bank had the largest market share in Serbia. The total growth of factoring in the past year was 20 percent higher than the previous year, and there is a growing interest of clients for international two-factor factoring, which in the same period recorded an increase of as much as 75 percent, “, said Rada Savic, Sales Manager, Transactional Banking, OTP Bank Serbia, as part of yesterday’s panel discussion.
Products and services tailored to the client’s needs are what OTP Bank Serbia pays special attention to. International factoring – fast collection of export receivables, with additional working capital without credit for exporters, is a product that the Bank was among the first to offer on the domestic market. In addition to financing, clients also receive an assigned claims insurance service.
As the assignee receives funds earlier than the Bank, it opens the possibility of offering longer payment terms to its overseas customer. The Bank makes it possible to check the customer’s creditworthiness through the Import Factor free of charge, which is useful before the beginning of cooperation between the two parties. International factoring service is a product intended exclusively for exporting clients. These are receivables from the export of goods and services with a defined currency of payment up to one year. In practice, defined currencies for payments to overseas customers are usually up to 60 or 90 days. The collection of receivables from the insurance company, and as a result of the occurrence of the insured event (usually the illiquidity of the buyer abroad), is up to 90 days from the date of maturity of the said claim.
It is important to mention other factoring services offered by today’s OTP Bank Serbia, involving an innovative, online platform that connects all participants in the factoring business (suppliers, the Bank and the customer). It is a unique model of Supply Chain Financing in domestic factoring, which enables commercial transactions suppliers to collect earlier their receivables upon delivery of goods or provision of services, gain faster and earier access to liquid assets, meet their suppliers’ requirements regarding payment deadlines while protecting themselves from exchange rate risks.
The great advantage of this model is its much faster approval than standard credit products, easy access to the information you need, and favorable financing conditions.
The conference is hosted by FCI, founded in 1968, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with the idea of integrating and connecting factoring companies around the world in the field of domestic and international factoring and claim financing. FCI today has 400 members in 90 countries worldwide, it offers a special application through which factoring companies and banks communicate, exchanging messages and required documentation. Belgrade Regional FCI Conference has drawn great interest in CEE and SEE countries, bringing together representatives from countries from the Region, as well as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Belarus, Sweden, Turkey, UK, Switzerland, Poland, Moldova, etc.