How Digitisation Is Changing the Economics of Working Capital

Working capital efficiency is shaped as much by process as by commercial terms. Even when payment structures are sound, delays in execution, approval, and financing can trap cash unnecessarily within the operating cycle.

Digitisation directly addresses this problem.

When trade instruments such as Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes are issued digitally, the time between commercial agreement and financial outcome is significantly reduced. Transactions that once took days or weeks to process can move forward in near real time, improving liquidity access without altering contractual arrangements.

This has a direct impact on cost. Manual processing, reconciliation, and document handling are expensive and prone to error. Digital workflows reduce administrative overhead, lower operational risk, and improve data accuracy across the transaction lifecycle. These efficiencies compound as transaction volumes increase.

Working Capital Notes™ bring these benefits into a structured financing framework. By digitising negotiable instruments within existing trade relationships, businesses can free up cash that would otherwise remain tied up until maturity. Suppliers receive funds earlier, buyers retain flexibility, and banks finance instruments that are secure, auditable, and transferable.

Through Flownote, ETR Digital enables Working Capital Notes to be issued, managed, and financed as part of a modern treasury workflow. The result is not a new form of working capital, but a more efficient way of accessing the value already embedded within trade activity.