Your supplier wants payment now. Your customer pays in 30, 60 or 90 days. Trade finance bridges that gap - so growth doesn't stall while you wait to get paid.
Most businesses that struggle with cash flow are not mismanaged - they are growing. The problem is structural timing: you buy stock, you pay your supplier, you deliver to your customer, they pay you in 60 days. Every time you take on a new order, you need more capital to fund it.
Without trade finance, growth means constant cash flow pressure. Structured correctly, trade finance removes the timing problem so you can trade at the scale your business is genuinely capable of.
Pay overseas suppliers and fund stock while it's in transit or in the warehouse - repaid once you sell the goods and collect payment, matching the finance to your actual cash flow cycle.
Access working capital while you wait on international payment terms, so you can keep fulfilling new orders and covering domestic costs without interruption.
Have a confirmed order but not yet the capital to fund it? PO finance funds production, procurement or delivery against that order - so you can fulfil it without straining cash flow.
Advance funds against outstanding receivables instead of waiting 30, 60 or 90 days to get paid - smoothing cash flow across your entire trading cycle.
Tell us about your trading structure, the type of trade finance you need and the approximate facility size. This takes minutes and carries absolutely no obligation.
We review your situation and identify which lenders on our panel best suit your trading structure, volumes, industry and documentation position. We look at multiple options, not just the most accessible one.
We send a secure SMS upload link. Upload documents directly from your phone - no email chains, no paper and no unnecessary back-and-forth with sensitive trade documents.
We package your file correctly and submit to the most appropriate lender. A well-prepared, complete submission is assessed faster and generates far fewer requests for additional information.
Subject to lender assessment, your trade finance facility is established and you can begin drawing against it to fund your next purchase - or your next order.
Trade finance lenders assess your trading cycle, documents and industry differently to a standard business loan. We build that picture first - then match you to the lender genuinely suited to it.
Every trading business hits the timing gap differently. Here's how the right facility can solve it.
Paying an overseas supplier before stock lands
Situation
An importer must pay their overseas supplier in full before goods leave the factory - weeks before that stock can be sold.
What's needed
Funding that covers the purchase while stock is in transit, repaid once it's sold and the customer pays.
How Loan-o helps
We match the business to a lender that understands import cycles and structure the facility around it.
Waiting on a 60-day overseas payment term
Situation
An exporter has shipped goods to an overseas buyer on 60-day terms - but new orders need funding now.
What's needed
Working capital to keep production and operations moving while waiting on the overseas payment.
How Loan-o helps
We identify lenders comfortable with export receivables and structure a facility around the payment cycle.
A large confirmed order, but no capital to fulfil it
Situation
A distributor lands a large confirmed order but doesn't have the capital to pay suppliers and fulfil it.
What's needed
Funding against the confirmed order itself, so the business can pay suppliers and deliver on time.
How Loan-o helps
We find a lender willing to fund against the purchase order and manage the process end to end.
Trade finance suits any business that buys and sells goods - domestically or internationally - and needs to bridge the timing gap between paying a supplier and collecting from a customer.
Trade finance refers to the short-term financial products and instruments used by businesses to fund the purchase and sale of goods. It bridges the timing gap between paying a supplier and receiving payment from a customer - reducing cash flow pressure and enabling businesses to trade at a scale they otherwise couldn't sustain.
A standard business loan provides a lump sum of capital repaid over time on a fixed schedule. Trade finance is typically structured around specific transactions or trading cycles and is repaid as goods are sold and payments are collected. It is designed to match the cash flow patterns of trading businesses rather than provide long-term capital.
Yes. Some trade finance products - including purchase order finance and debtor finance - are available to domestic businesses. If you have confirmed purchase orders or outstanding receivables and need working capital to bridge the gap between cost and revenue, it is worth a conversation regardless of whether your trade is domestic or international.
Facility sizes vary depending on your business turnover, trading volumes and the lending appetite available for your industry and structure. Loan-o works with businesses across a range of sizes - from growing SMEs through to established operators with significant import or export volumes. The eligibility check is the right first step to understand what may be genuinely available.
Trade finance is used across retail, wholesale, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, resources and professional services. If your business buys goods and sells them to customers - and there is a timing gap between those two events that creates cash flow pressure - trade finance may be relevant to your situation.
No. Loan-o is a commercial finance broker, not a lender. We access trade finance facilities through our panel of specialist lenders and match your scenario to the most appropriate option - giving you access to multiple lenders and products rather than being limited to a single institution's terms.
Assessment timelines depend on the complexity of your trading structure, the completeness of information provided and the lender selected. A well-prepared submission with all required documents moves considerably faster than an incomplete one. Loan-o gives you a realistic timeline at the outset based on your specific scenario.
An initial enquiry with Loan-o is not a formal credit application with any lender. We discuss your situation, explain your options and walk through any credit implications before anything is formally submitted. You remain in full control of what happens - and when.
Tell us about your trading structure and what you need to fund. It takes minutes, costs nothing, and gives you a clear, honest picture of what trade finance options may be available for your specific situation.