Open Trade Finance Platform for SMEs - Covid 19 and beyond

开放贸易融资平台（OTFP）首先通过提供低成本的法律支持和针对国际发票和合同的保险，降低了向中小企业提供贸易融资的风险；其次，通过将出口中小企业与贸易融资提供商相匹配。在新冠疫情环境下，中小企业贸易融资缺口是一个特别的问题，因为许多出口中小企业无法获得其他中小企业（特别是服务或数字行业的中小企业）可以获得的核心支持措施，如企业债务担保。一家银行平均要花费6万英镑才能吸引到一位贸易融资客户。在目前的环境下，出口仍远低于大流行前的水平，中小企业发现越来越难以获得融资，因为贸易信用保险提供商变得更加厌恶风险。银行已经退出了营业额低于650万英镑的业务市场，因为入职成本太高，而且风险越来越超出大型非政府保险公司的胃口。中小企业出口商约占英国商业基础的9%，目前将受到这两种趋势的过度影响。这些公司通常是规模较小、成立时间较短的企业，因此它们没有足够的业绩记录来承担这种风险。OTFP是应对这一挑战的一种手段，可以确保这些公司在危机中生存和发展。OTFP是一个基于网络和移动的应用程序，它将中小企业出口融资需求与银行或非银行的合适融资提供商联系起来。它接受中小企业的财务和业务发展需求，并使用AI将这些需求与已经在区块链或平台即服务（PaaS）上运营的主要贸易融资提供商进行匹配。除了这种独立功能之外，Coriolis还自豪地与大型平台合作，作为银行后台软件的服务提供商，使软件的模块化API得以采用。OTFP是一个及时和创新的发展，解决了一群被排除在外的小企业的具体需求。它将完全遵守政府关于保持社交距离的指导方针，并在封锁的框架内提供。在全球贸易受到威胁之际，它给英国带来的直接好处可能是，中小企业出口对GDP的贡献高达300亿英镑。它的持久影响将是中小企业获得贸易融资的速度更快、成本更低，以及银行对中小企业客户的筛选。

The Open Trade Finance Platform (OTFP) de-risks the provision of trade finance to SMEs first, by enabling low cost legal support and insurance against international invoices and contracts and second, by matching those exporting SMEs to trade finance providers. The SME trade finance gap is a particular problem in the Covid-19 environment because many exporting SMEs are falling outside core support measures such as CBILS that are available to other SME businesses, especially if they are in services or digital sectors. It costs a bank on average up to £60,000 to onboard a trade finance client. In the current environment where exports remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels SMEs are finding it increasingly difficult to access finance because trade credit insurance providers have become more risk averse. Banks have pulled out of the market for businesses with turnovers below £6.5m because the costs of onboarding are too high and the risks increasingly outside of the appetite of major non-government insurers. SME exporters represent around 9% of the UK's business base and will suffer unduly from both these trends at the current time. These are often smaller and younger businesses, thus they have insufficient track-record to warrant this risk. The OTFP is a means tackling this challenge to ensure these companies survive and thrive beyond the crisis.The OTFP is a web-based and mobile app that links SME export finance requirements to suitable providers of that finance, in banks or non-banks. It takes the financial and business development requirements of the SME and uses AI to match those requirements with the major providers of trade finance who already operate on blockchain or Platform as a Service (PaaS). In addition to this stand-alone capability, Coriolis is proud to be working with large platform as a service providers of back office software to banks to enable modular API adoption of the software.The OTFP is a timely and innovative development that addresses the specific needs of a group of excluded small businesses. It will be delivered in complete compliance with government guidelines on social distancing and within the framework of the lockdown. Its immediate benefit to the UK could be as much as £30bn in SME export contribution to GDP at a time when global trade is threatened. Its lasting impact will be in quicker and cheaper SME access to trade finance and bank screening of SME clients.