SMEs Can Access Working Capital Through EXIM Express

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in need of working capital are being advised to take advantage of the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank) express loan facility.

EXIM Express is a short-term, 90-day facility with a turnaround time of seven days from application to disbursement of the loan. It allows entities to leverage their receivables to access funds needed to finance their daily business activities.

“EXIM Express is one of the must-haves for SMEs because it is so fast [and] convenient,” said Business Development Consultant, EXIM Bank, Winston Lawson, in an interview with JIS News.

“It allows the SME to [receive] cash much earlier, so that they can continue to operate and do other business rather than sit and wait to be paid,” he noted.

Mr. Lawson said that businesses can receive up to 75 per cent of their receivables up to a maximum of $10 million and a minimum of $2 million.

He noted that the receivables must be those that are due from any government agency, any company that publicly trades on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) or from any blue-chip company as determined by the EXIM Bank.

He indicated that once the deal for the loan is signed, a tripartite agreement is also required to be signed by the EXIM Bank, the SME and the entity that owes the money.

“What that tripartite agreement essentially does is allow [EXIM Bank] to advance the SME the money and allows the entity to pay [EXIM Bank] rather than to pay the SME. With the EXIM Express, we will not ask the SME to give audited financial statements, unaudited financial statements, management accounts, inhouse accounts –nothing… and we also do not require any hard-asset security, meaning we won’t take your car, house [or] land,” said Mr. Lawson.

For further information, persons can contact the EXIM Bank at (876) 630-1400 or (867) 618-5889.

EXIM Bank is Jamaica’s premier trade financing institution and the Caribbean’s first export-import bank.