Vietnam is increasingly integrating into global supply chains, particularly in industrial manufacturing, electronics, supporting industries, energy, consumer goods, and export sectors. As leading enterprises and multinational corporations expand, the demand for Vietnamese businesses' supply capacity also grows.

However, a significant bottleneck in the supply chain is the limited access to capital for businesses at deeper tiers. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with strong production capabilities, stable orders, and consistent output still struggle to secure traditional loans due to limitations in collateral, financial reports, or credit history.

To address this challenge, Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) has introduced a multi-tier supply chain finance (SCF) platform. This digital platform connects central businesses with their tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, and subsequent suppliers within the ecosystem.

The MB solution facilitates capital flow within the supply chain. Photo: MB

The multi-tier SCF platform stands out by applying diverse financial methods and non-credit solutions. This ensures capital can circulate throughout the entire chain, rather than being concentrated at a single level. MB aims to tackle two simultaneous issues: facilitating capital access for SMEs and broadening capital movement across the entire supply chain.

For central businesses, especially industry leaders with ecosystems comprising hundreds or thousands of suppliers across sectors like industrial manufacturing, electronics, oto, steel, construction, energy, agricultural products, food, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), the multi-tier SCF platform offers a centralized digital tool for managing accounts payable and cash flow.

Through this platform, businesses can digitize and enhance the transparency of payment operations, manage multi-tier supplier portfolios, and optimize working capital. It also provides tools to foster a stable and sustainable supplier ecosystem.

For SMEs within the supply chain, the solution enables access to finance based on their transaction flow and role within the chain. Crucially, suppliers can request debt collection within minutes through a "three no's" mechanism: no credit limit approval process, no collateral requirements, and no loan debt acceptance.

This provides businesses with additional resources to purchase raw materials, expand production capacity, ensure timely delivery, and improve their ability to meet the demands of leading enterprises.

The entire experience on the multi-tier SCF platform is designed for automation, reducing manual operations and shortening processing times. The platform integrates technologies such as Blockchain and Big Data, ensuring secure, transparent, and confidential transactions.

After six months of pilot implementation, the platform has processed transactions totaling approximately 5,000 billion VND. It has been deployed for many leading businesses in key sectors, including steel, construction, agricultural products, electronics, and FMCG.

"Initial results demonstrate the platform's ability to connect central businesses with their supplier ecosystems, support SMEs in accessing capital, and extend capital flow to multiple tiers within the chain," an MB representative shared.

With the multi-tier SCF platform, MB is pursuing a new approach to supply chain finance. This extends beyond providing capital to individual businesses, instead focusing on enabling capital flow for the entire ecosystem. Through this solution package, MB aims to continue supporting Vietnamese businesses in enhancing their competitiveness, strengthening resilience, and building more sustainable supply chains as they integrate deeper into the global value chain.

Minh Ngoc