In the first phase of this ground-breaking arrangement, Bank of Queensland will transfer its existing debtor finance business effective immediately, with Octet assuming responsibility for all the Bank’s debtor finance clients across Australia. As part of this relationship, Bank of Queensland will be providing a funding warehouse to Octet.

Octet, an Australian supply chain finance specialist with more than $2 billion in annual transactions, will seek to expand the partnership through integrating its suite of innovative SME supply chain finance solutions within the Bank.

The Octet-Bank of Queensland collaboration is the first time Octet has aligned with a traditional lender in the business finance market.

The new arrangement adds significant momentum to Octet’s growth and represents a key milestone in its efforts to broaden its foothold within the Australian SME market.

The expanded debtor finance business will complement Octet’s growing and unrivalled suite of B2B supply chain finance offerings.

Octet chairman Peter Gammell said “Our partnership with Bank of Queensland is another breakthrough transaction for Octet and signals the next chapter in the evolution and expansion of Octet. Today’s announcement is absolutely in line with our strategy of harnessing our best-in-class technology to centralise business finance and payments so our clients can carry out all their business supply chain transactions within a single platform.

Octet chief executive officer Clive Isenberg said “We are delighted with Bank of Queensland’s decision to select us to partner in this working capital offering. While we proudly wear the label of a ‘challenger’ to traditional financial players, we are very pleased to link up with Bank of Queensland on this venture as it provides an opportunity to showcase the benefits of our supply chain management and financing platform.

“Bank of Queensland wanted to find a market-leading provider to help deliver a superior service to their debtor finance customers. The strength of our best-in-class supply chain finance offering, combined with the experience of our team in serving the finance needs of Australian businesses, particularly SMEs, positions us to deliver an enhanced outcome for the BoQ and Octet. It’s a compelling proposition and importantly provides a platform for expanding the partnership.

“This deal underscores the exciting point in Octet’s growth journey we have now reached. Octet was born out of a desire to help local businesses buy from SME suppliers in Asia-Pacific and other emerging regions. Our priority has been on financing and managing the supply chain by bringing together multiple financial sources to maximise business opportunities for both buyers and sellers. We’re genuinely looking forward to sharing our market-leading supply chain financing and payment tools with small and medium businesses globally.

“We remain focused on growing our trade, supply chain and receivables finance business as we step up ambitions as a challenger to traditional lenders and assist clients in developing a seamless management and financing experience across the entire supply chain.”

Under the partnership arrangement with Bank of Queensland, Octet will deploy selected, noncompeting supply chain solutions across the Bank’s customer base and network.