What is SCF

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How much does it cost?

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Web Portal

Dear Supplier,

Welcome to the Santander UK plc supplier on-boarding portal for Supply Chain Finance. You are just a few steps away from being able to advance payment of your invoices.

We hope this online resource will provide you with all of the information you will require to:

• understand the service we offer,
• guide you through the joining steps, and
• advance your payments.

If at any point you require any further information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Supply Chain Finance team using the contact details at the bottom of this page.

We are proud to have been chosen by your client to partner with them to offer you greater control over your cash flow in a simple, personal and fair manner and we look forward to welcoming you into our Supply Chain Finance programme.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Crowe Head of Supply Chain Finance Solutions	Alex Farrugia Head of Supply Chain Finance UK

Supply Chain Finance (also known as ‘SCF’ or ‘Confirming’) is an innovative electronic payment and information service which facilitates collaboration between you and your client. With SCF your client processes all of your invoices through Santander as soon as they are approved for payment, offering you:

Timely visibility of the invoices accepted for payment and simple management reporting of the historical invoices, reducing payment queries.

Opportunity to receive payments early, ahead of the invoice maturity date, through selling your receivable to Santander at competitive rate.

How does it work

There are no technical requirements, your current invoicing processes do not change.

If you decide to join the programme, each time you submit an invoice we will initiate the following process:

1. You submit your invoice to the client, via your usual route.
2. The invoice is processed and confirmed for payment by your client via a payment instruction to Santander through the SCF platform.
3. Santander then sends you an email with an offer to receive payment early, at a discount.
4. You decide if you would like to be paid early or not:
   

   	If not, no action is required.
   	If yes, please complete the offer document and sign the related contract that you will receive in the email, and return to Santander.

5. Santander makes payment to you for the selected invoices in advance of the maturity date, less the discount.
   Advance payment of the invoice can be requested at any time up until 3 days before the maturity date.
6. Your client pays Santander at the invoice maturity date. If we have not already advanced your payment at a discount, full value of the invoice is transferred to you by Santander.

All payments are made by Santander to your usual bank account, so you do not need to bank with Santander to receive your payment, regardless of whether you choose to receive your payment early at a discount or in full on the maturity date.

You can also view, request to advance or download your invoices via the Santander Supply Chain Finance online portal. Further details about the portal can be found here.

Greater control to you

To increase flexibility and control over what you do with your invoices, we offer two different options for requesting advance payments:

1. Automatic Advance of all present and future invoices — with this option you instruct Santander to advance all of your invoices:
   • Immediately once submitted by your client to Santander; or
   • On a certain day of the month; or
   • Fixed number of days before the maturity day
   This automated option allows you to gain maximum cash benefit while minimising the administrative burden of having to select invoices individually.
   
   
2. Selective Advance of invoices — this option allows you to individually select from the list of available confirmed invoices only those you wish to advance.

Full remittance details for each invoice are available via the Santander Supply Chain Finance online portal. Alternatively you can request them from the Santander Supply Chain Finance team.

Please review ‘Joining’ page for details on how to enrol for any of these options.

There are no charges if you decide to wait and receive the payment for your invoice on its maturity date; the full value of your invoice will be transferred into your nominated bank account by Santander.

However, if you decide to receive the payment for your invoice in advance of its maturity date, there is a charge:

• Floating finance rate : Confirming margin + Libor rate*
• Discount cost is pro-rated based on the number of days remaining before the maturity date
• Our offer applies to full 100% of the invoice value, less discount charge
• There are no other additional fees or commissions
• The advanced payment is irrevocable
• No need to bank with Santander
  * EURIBOR or EUR-LIBOR for invoices in Euro or other applicable reference rate for invoices in other currencies, please contact Santander for further details.

Please contact the Santander team for a quote applicable to you and review the ‘Joining’ page for the next steps to enrol in the programme.

Online web portal

You can also view, request to advance and download your invoices via the Santander Supply Chain Finance online portal. The portal is available to you 24/7 via Internet Explorer and other common web browsers.

The portal offers invoice remittance details and a wide range of reports which are often used for reconciliation and audit purposes, and can be downloaded in Excel format.

Web portal demonstration

We can arrange for a presentation of our portal to demonstrate how it works and what information you can view, guiding you through it step by step.

Please contact the Santander Supply Chain Finance team for more details.

Competitive conditions

• Accelerated cash collection — Cash can be in your account sooner, if you opt to receive payments in advance, once your invoice is approved for payment by your client
• You are not committed — There is no obligation to discount and full invoice value is paid at maturity at no charge
• Flexible discounting — Advance payment can be requested immediately upon invoice confirmation by the client or on a future date
• Improved risk management — Reducing the need for credit insurance

Off Balance Sheet Financing

• Offer applies to 100% of invoice value — Compared to typical 70-80% with other financial solutions
• Free your credit lines — You can use your existing lines to reinvest into your business or for other projects
• Improved financial ratios — Potential to remove debt and/or trade payables from your balance sheet

Simple and Flexible

• Simple to join — No credit checks or requirements to submit further financial information
• No need to bank with Santander — We credit your existing account
• Improved visibility — You are notified as soon as your invoice is confirmed for payment by your client
• Predictable cash flow — Improves predictability and traceability of your invoice payments, helping you to plan ahead

Santander accepts early payment requests by way of:

Email

Web portal

Joining the programme for the first time...

These are some typical questions we have been asked in the past:

What is the invoice confirmation / approval time?

Once you have submitted your invoice to your client, it may take few days for them to review and process your invoice for payment. For example your client may want to check that the goods and services you delivered were as expected, before confirming their commitment to pay by making an instruction to Santander.

What is my invoice maturity date?

The invoice maturity day is the date when you would expect to be paid by your client, for example as per the terms of your contract for the sale of good or provision of services with the client.

The date is advised to Santander by your client when sending us each invoice.

Do I have to sign a contract with Santander?

You will only need to sign a contract with Santander if you have decided to receive payments in advance in respect of some or all of your invoices. You can enter into a contract in respect of all of your present and future invoices (known as the “automatic advance option”) or in respect of specific invoices only, on a case by case basis. If you decide to discount specific invoices, the contract that you sign with Santander will apply to those specific invoices only — there is no on-going obligation to discount any other invoices with Santander.

If you have opted for the “automatic advance option” in your contract with Santander, we will need written confirmation if you would like to terminate this instruction. At that point you will go back to receiving an offer to advance your specific invoices as and when they are approved by your client and provided to Santander.

If you decide to access the Santander Supply Chain Finance web portal, you will be required to accept our website terms and conditions.

Please refer to the sample Notification Letter on the ‘Joining’ page for a copy of the programme’s terms & conditions.

Can I remove the invoice from my Balance Sheet?

When you request an advance payment, Santander will purchase your receivable on a non-recourse basis. This is typically treated as a ‘true sale’ from the balance sheet perspective, reducing your trade debts. However, please note that this does not constitute any advice or recommendation from us, please seek your own accounting advice on this point.

How do I request an advance payment?

Santander accepts early payment requests via email or our web portal.

Once we receive the details of invoices from the client, we will email you confirming which invoices are eligible for an early payment.

To make a discount request for the first time or via email, please:

• Review, complete and sign the Notification Letter (including terms & conditions) attached to the email, and
• Return it to Santander together with the supporting documents, please check ‘Joining’ page for further details.

To make a payment request via the web portal, please:

• Login to the portal to make the request in just 6 clicks.

For more detail please contact Santander Supply Chain Finance team.

Can I request to receive early payment for all my invoices?

As soon as your invoices have been approved and submitted to us by your client, they can be advanced, at a discount, to your bank account automatically. This automated process aims to reduce the administration time of advancing each invoice one-by-one.

To enrol with this option you need to select “All present and future invoices” box in the Notification Letter and complete the rest of the early payment request steps. Please refer to ‘Joining’ page. You can terminate this option at any time by writing to the Santander team.

Do I have to use the Santander web portal to advance my invoices?

Not necessarily. Whilst you can request access to the Santander Supply Chain Finance website to see your confirmed invoices and advance payments, this is not mandatory. You can make early payment requests by email.

Who should I contact if I am interested but need more information?

Santander’s dedicated Supply Chain Finance team can help with all of your queries; please find their contact details at the bottom of this page.

How do I know if my invoices have been approved for payment?

We will send you a notification by email with details of the invoices that have been approved and are eligible for an early payment.

Do I need to pay to join the Supply Chain programme?

There are no joining fees or commissions. Charges only apply if you decide to draw down invoices for payment ahead of their maturity date.

What are the charges for this programme?

There are no charges unless you decide to receive the payment for your invoice in advance of its maturity date. The discount for the early payment applies to the full value of your invoice and pro-rated based on the number of days remaining before its maturity date. The discount charge is based on a competitive Confirming margin over a floating reference rate (e.g. currency LIBOR or EURIBOR, as applicable). Please refer to the ‘How much does it cost’ page for further detail.

The exact cost for each of your specific invoices can be confirmed on the web portal or by contacting Santander.

I do not want to discount my invoices

Then, no action is required from you. Santander will process the payment of your invoice on the maturity date. However you still benefit from the knowledge that your invoice has been approved for payment by your client and you can use the Santander web portal for reporting and reconciliation purposes.

How long do I have to decide if I want to receive the payment early?

You can visit the Santander web portal at any time to view your invoices and you can sell any receivable to us whenever you want, up until 3 days before its maturity date.

How do I receive my money?

Santander will transfer the funds due to your usual bank account. You do not need to bank with Santander or to open a new account.

All payments, whether for a discounted or matured invoice are made via Faster Payment or same-day international transfer.

What is the automatic advance option?

The Santander Supply Chain portal can be configured to automatically pay all of your confirmed invoices early:

• Immediately once submitted by your client to Santander; or
• On a certain day of the month; or
• On a fixed number of days before the maturity date.

Please speak to the Santander Supply Chain Finance team for more details.

My company or bank details have changed, what do I do?

Please advise the changes to both your client and the Santander Supply Chain Finance team, preferably via encrypted email.

I already have another financing solution in place?

You may find that the pricing of Supply Chain Finance is often more competitive than that of other financing solutions, such as overdrafts.

In the event that you have already sold or pledged your receivables as part of another financing solution, please contact Santander Supply Chain Finance team to discuss the options available to you.

What happens if I decide that I no longer want to use the service?

We are confident that you will be satisfied with our SCF programme. However if you do wish to discontinue the service, you either can simply ignore the early payment notifications that you receive from Santander or alternatively advise your client to make the payments directly to you. In the event that you have a discounting arrangement with us, you can terminate the underlying contract with immediate effect, just by giving us notice. There are no cancelation fees or charges for any of the Supply Chain Finance options offered by us.

For any other changes or if you require any further information, please contact the Supply Chain Finance team.