Today In B2B: Zomato Collabs On Restaurant Financing; Clothing Suppliers Face Mounting Challenges

Today in B2B payments, Zomato partners for restaurant financing, while Bangladesh clothing suppliers struggle through canceled orders and late payments. Plus, Wolters Kluwer bolsters its PPP software, Sage collaborates on retail financial solutions, and the Central Bank of Russia has a warning for SWIFT.

Zomato Teams With InCred For Loans To Restaurants In India

In an effort to provide credit facilities to its eatery partners, India-based food delivery platform Zomato is said to have collaborated with FinTech firm InCred. The country’s flourishing food delivery sector is among the segments most impacted by the pandemic, according to a report from IBS intelligence. Zomato Chief Sales Officer Rakesh Ranjan said in the report that the food delivery business has made a formidable rebound but that the food service space as a whole is not near pre-pandemic levels. The executive said the company has been at work on a number of programs to strengthen its recovery. Its partnership with InCred is among those efforts, he said.

Bangladesh Clothing Suppliers Lost $3.7 Billion From Pandemic

The pandemic hit Bangladeshi clothing suppliers and the country’s overall economy hard when British fashion retailers had to shut down, a report from The Times said. The garment sector is the largest part of the country’s economy, representing over 95 percent of it, the report stated. The total canceled globally came out to $3.7 billion, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. That number came from 1,931 global fashion brands nixing their orders.

Wolters Kluwer Bolsters PPP Software For Lenders To Help SMBs

Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions has bolstered its Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus software to speed up Small Business Administration (SBA) loan applications, according to a Monday (Dec. 28) announcement. The division says it can provide an online loan platform that permits compliance with SBA Appendix 8 requirements for digital loans due to its purchase of eOriginal, which was recently unveiled, according to the announcement.

Sage, Brightpearl Team Up To Boost Cloud-Based Retail

Sage, which works in cloud business management, is working with digital operations platform Brightpearl on helping retailers utilize the cloud for their operations, a press release says. The partnership will “take advantage of best-of-breed cloud finance and retail management solutions, supporting them on their digital journey,” the release says. And under the agreement, Sage will make a minority investment of around £17 million in Brightpearl. Sage Chief Operations Officer Lee Perkins said the move would be good as businesses started to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Central Bank Of Russia: Electronic Money Could Render SWIFT Obsolete

Digital currencies could render the SWIFT global payments network unnecessary, RT.com reported, citing the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). Olga Skorobogatova, first deputy governor of the CBR, said 30 countries are working on their own national digital currencies, some of which could launch in five to seven years. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), as of July, some 36 central banks published studies on the concept of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) also known as a digital fiat currency, the report stated.