Stream Working Capital Qorus Banking Innovation Awards 2023

Managing cashflow is important to the success of all Australian businesses. Stream Working Capital (Stream) emerged through identifying a growing need from CommBank's small - medium sized business customers for a receivables backed lending product to help better manage their day-to-day cashflow. This new product innovation aligns to the Business Bank's strategic pillar of "Reimagined Products & Services". Stream Working Capital has reimagined traditional invoice finance with a digital customer experience that connects to external services already used by our customers for a much more simple and easy application process. This type of product innovation is in pursuit of building tomorrow's bank today for our customers and the bank's purpose of building a brighter future for all. Working capital solutions have evolved with technology advancements to mitigate historical fraud risks and enhance real-time credit assessment. CommBank saw an opportunity to deliver a best in industry digital customer experience while also addressing and mitigating operational risk concerns with the launch of Stream. Stream began as a product pilot through a partnership with leading FinTech and Software as a Service provider - Waddle. This partnership allowed for a quick entry to market with a minimum viable product to test and learn alongside our customers. More recently, CBA has acquired the Waddle business through its venture-scaling arm, x15ventures which will further strengthen and accelerate the growth of Stream Working Capital. Stream works by firstly asking a customer to provide consent to share their financial information via an API from their cloud-based accounting software system (Xero, MYOB & QuickBooks). The customers financial information is then assessed in real-time by automated workflows and algorithms to provide the customer with an indicative offer within seconds of applying. These automated enhancements remove manual processes and calculations done by other major banks and has a huge impact on the customer experience. The information shared is also used to complete the rest of the application process, helping to reduce the overall approval process time and get funding into the customer's account fast. Some of the key benefits of the product for customers include: - Accessibility; Receive up to 80% of the value of approved invoices today, instead of waiting up to 90 days. - Collateral; No property security is required as collateral to secure the loan (personal or commercial). - Flexibility; helps customers manage seasonal and day-to-day fluctuations in their cash flow. - Revolving; A customer's loan can be drawn up and scaled down where required. - Convenience; Easy to use with minimal administrative requirements. - Reduced paperwork; The platform links to the customers accounting system (once they have consented) where information is exchanged in near real time. - Repayments; Cash generated from the customers receivables is viewed as the primary source of repayment. Stream Working Capital is available to business bank customers who use Netbank and can be originated in CommBiz currently. Full end to end CommBiz functionality will be available for customers in October this year.