Working Capital Notes and the Move Toward Faster, More Efficient Trade Finance

Managing working capital has always required balancing liquidity, risk, and commercial relationships. Traditional trade finance instruments already address many of these challenges, but their effectiveness has historically been constrained by slow and manual execution.

Working Capital Notes address this gap by enabling instruments such as Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes to be issued and managed digitally. This creates a more efficient mechanism for handling payables and receivables without altering underlying trade terms or legal structures.

In a typical payables finance scenario, a buyer approves supplier invoices and issues a digital Promissory Note with a defined maturity. That instrument can then be financed by a bank, allowing the supplier to be paid early while the buyer retains payment terms aligned to their own operating cycle. The commercial relationship remains unchanged, but liquidity moves sooner and with greater certainty.

From a receivables perspective, digital Bills of Exchange allow suppliers to offer structured settlement terms while retaining the ability to finance those obligations efficiently. Once accepted, the instrument becomes transferable and financeable, turning future receivables into an immediate source of working capital.

Across both use cases, the value lies in efficiency and assurance. Digital Working Capital Notes are secure, auditable, and traceable throughout their lifecycle. Ownership changes, execution status, and maturity are clearly recorded, reducing disputes and simplifying audit and compliance processes.

As businesses face increasing pressure to optimise cash flow and reduce financing costs, Working Capital Notes provide a practical way to unlock liquidity already embedded within existing trade activity.