Exim Bank launches Finserve at GIFT City to offer trade finance products

Exim Bank on Tuesday said it has launched subsidiary Exim Finserve at the Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (GIFT City) to offer a comprehensive range of trade finance products to Indian exporters.

Exim Finserve will provide a combination of three essential services to exporters: receivables financing, coverage of the risk of non-payment and management of accounts receivable, Exim Bank said in a release.

Exim Finserve, or India Exim Finserve IFSC Private Limited, will extend a range of trade finance products to Indian exporters, with a primary focus on export factoring, it said.

"This would lead to improved cash flow and reduced payment risk for exporters, enabling them to confidently explore new markets and seize growth opportunities.

"The factoring services would be particularly beneficial for MSME exporters as it is primarily based on the quality of accounts receivable, rather than collateral," stated the release.

The subsidiary of Exim Bank was announced in the Union Budget 2023 by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and is one of the efforts to improve access to finance for MSMEs, Vivek Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Financial Services, said.

He expressed confidence in the ability of Exim Finserve to "effectively leverage the cohesive and eased framework for factoring services, to meet the requirements of MSME exporters."

Exim Finserve is set to enhance the export competitiveness of MSMEs as they can offer competitive credit terms to their buyers, without associated risks and cash flow difficulties, Exim Bank Managing Director Harsha Bangar was quoted as saying.

With its launch, Exim Bank is now covering the entire canvas of trade with bank-intermediated trade finance along with open account trade, she said.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Chairperson, K Rajaraman, said that Exim Finserve is the first finance company in GIFT City in the area of export factoring.