By Jeramie Maxwell
When supply chains are reshaped, your existing buyers can end up with longer cash cycles and new entities in other countries, so it's worth checking any unfamiliar counterparty and asking whether your credit cover follows the receivable, not just the financing. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on a new buyer or a change in how a customer is set up, [talk to Impello](https://www.impelloglobal.com/contact) and we're always happy to talk it through.
Suppose a long-standing customer asks to move invoicing to a new subsidiary in Vietnam, or mentions that part of its production now runs through Malaysia. Nothing about the order looks unusual, but the name on the invoice, the country it pays from and the bank behind it may all be new. The FIS 2026 survey on how supply chains are being reorganised is a useful prompt to think about how you would handle that, and how you check counterparties you don't yet know well.
What the FIS survey found
FIS Supply Chain Finance, formerly Demica, has released its 2026 benchmark report for banks in supply chain finance. It draws on nearly 100 responses from supply chain finance professionals across 28 countries. As Global Trade Review reported, 60% of bank respondents now expect geopolitical risk to have a positive impact on their asset growth over the next year, compared with 23% in last year's survey.
That sounds counterintuitive, and FIS explains it this way: supply chain reconfiguration, trade fragmentation and ongoing price inflation are increasing working capital requirements, which turns macro uncertainty into more demand for bank-funded receivables and payables finance. The report also found that 82% of respondents now offer receivables finance, up from 68% last year, and 78% offer payables finance, also up from 68%. Interest rates have faded as a driver, with only 20% of banks expecting rates to help asset growth, down from around 60% a year ago.
Why working capital needs are rising
Jon Hodges, FIS's Singapore-based head of capital markets for Asia-Pacific, told GTR the shift has been driven in part by buyers diversifying their sources of supply, with an expansion away from just China into surrounding countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
He also said there are probably more parties in the chain for many companies now, which means carrying more inventory or living with a longer cash cycle. His example was a supplier using Vietnam as well as China for production, funding raw materials and labour before payment comes in while end customers still expect competitive terms.
For a credit manager, that points to two practical considerations. The first is that some of your existing customers may be under more working capital pressure than their order books suggest, because they are funding inventory and production across more locations for longer. The second is that, if you sell materials or components into these chains, the entity you ship to and invoice could change, even when the commercial relationship hasn't. We don't think either is a reason for alarm, but both are good reasons to look again.
Checking a counterparty you don't know yet
When a new name or a new country shows up, we'd start with the basics. Confirm the legal entity you're actually invoicing and how it relates to the parent you know, because a parent's strength doesn't automatically stand behind a subsidiary's payables. Ask for current financial information on that entity where you can get it, and look at how it pays in practice, not just the terms on paper. Consider where payment will come from and whether any transfer or convertibility risk applies in that country, which is a political risk question as much as a credit one.
If you already have trade credit insurance, a change of buyer entity or country is usually something to raise with your insurer before you ship on open terms, since your limit may have been approved on the original entity. Raising it early gives everyone time to review the new buyer properly.
Bank finance and credit insurance do different jobs
The survey's main message is that banks want to provide more working capital. That's helpful, and receivables finance can bridge exactly the gap Hodges described. It's worth remembering, though, that a bank funding your receivables isn't the same thing as protection against your buyer not paying. Depending on how a facility is structured, the bank may have recourse to you if an invoice goes unpaid.
Trade credit insurance can cover your receivables against buyer non-payment, and political risk insurance can address events such as currency transfer restrictions or government action, in each case subject to the policy's specific terms, conditions, exclusions and approved buyer limits. Banks often look favourably on insured receivables, and a policy can sometimes support a finance facility, but that depends on the policy wording and any assignment or loss payee arrangements. We don't expect any of that to happen automatically, so it's worth checking how your finance and your cover fit together before you rely on either.
If one of your customers moved part of its production or invoicing to a new country tomorrow, would your credit process catch it before the next shipment, and would your cover follow it? For credit managers and CFOs, that seems a fair question to ask this quarter. If you'd like to work through it for a particular buyer or market, we're always happy to talk it through.