Rapid service growth in under two years from launch
Biz Forward, Inc., a joint venture between Money Forward, Inc. and MUFG Bank, Ltd., announced today that the cumulative transaction total*1 for its cloud-based BtoB billing service SEIKYU+ and online factoring service SHIKIN+ for small and medium-sized businesses has surpassed 10 billion yen in less than two years after the services were launched.
*1 Cumulative total of transactions conducted through SEIKYU+ and SHIKIN+
SEIKYU+ is a comprehensive settlement service for companies, and it handles everything from credit screening to invoicing and payment collection. SHIKIN+ is an online factoring service that allows companies to quickly turn their accounts receivable into cash by selling them to Biz Forward. By providing both these services, Biz Forward has been helping companies to reduce their billing operation workload, improve their cash flow, and create an environment that allows them to grow.
■Road to achieving a cumulative transaction total exceeding 10 billion yen
Biz Forward was established in 2021 as a joint venture between Money Forward and MUFG Bank. In less than two years from service launch in November 2021, Biz Forward has been able to surpass a cumulative transaction total of 10 billion yen. This achievement was made possible by the heightened demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic for companies to improve cash flow, and to digitalize and streamline billing operations. Another major reason for this success is that the joint venture structure has enabled Biz Forward to offer services that leverage the customer bases of both Money Forward and MUFG Bank.
Going forward, we plan to offer Embedded Finance, which will incorporate the factoring function of SHIKIN+ into Money Forward’s Money Forward Cloud and other software as a service (SaaS) platforms. This will allow us to provide seamless financial services using SaaS. With our mission of ‘move all companies forward,’ we will continue to support the growth of companies by providing services that are not limited by the conventional approaches of existing financial services.
■SEIKYU+
SEIKYU+ is a cloud-based BtoB billing service that handles the credit approval and billing operations necessary for intercompany payments, and even guarantees payment of accounts receivable.*2 In addition to handling billing-related tasks on behalf of service clients, SEIKYU+ allows the client to manage everything from invoice requests to payment confirmations, all on a cloud-based platform. By using this service, clients can streamline their billing operations and ensure stable cash flow.
Features:
(1) Online operations
All operations, including credit approval, invoicing, and payment confirmation, are completed digitally, allowing client personnel to work from anywhere.
(2) Easier new customer development
This service can perform credit screening in as little as a few seconds. Even when an end customer fails to pay an invoice, Biz Forward still guarantees payment to its service client, allowing them to develop new customers with peace of mind*2.
(3) Stabilizing cash flow
Avoiding the risks of delayed payments and bad debts
(4) Low costs
Among the industry’s lowest payment processing fees
Service URL: https://bizforward.co.jp/seikyuplus/top
*2 The guarantee applies only if conditions specified by Biz Forward are met.
■SHIKIN+
SHIKIN+ is an online factoring service for small and medium-sized businesses. Since SHIKIN+ is a two-party factoring process conducted completely online, the service client does not need to notify their accounts receivable customers. Furthermore, since SHIKIN+ operates on a credit assessment model utilizing proprietary data, it allows clients to rapidly convert their accounts receivables into funds. Moreover, the fee level ranges roughly from 1% to 10%, and there are no additional costs.
This is an alternative financing option that can be used to quickly procure necessary funds when cash flow issues arise. Such challenges can occur when business practices result in a long wait to collect payment, when it is difficult to borrow from financial institutions, or when short-term capital needs cannot be met with loans.
Features:
(1) Rapid response to short-term financial needs
After submitting the screening documents, the client can receive payment within as few as two business days. Funds can be obtained more quickly than with loans.
(2) Meets a wide range of financial needs
Biz Forward can provide funding based on the client’s sales growth (accounts receivables balance), and can meet a full range of financial needs, from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of yen.
Service URL: https://bizforward.co.jp/shikinplus/top
■Biz Forward
Name: Biz Forward, Inc.
Location: 21F Tamachi Station Tower S, 3-1-21 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0023
Representative: Naomichi Tomiyama, President and Representative Director
Established: August 2, 2021
URL: https://bizforward.co.jp/
Business:
Operation of cloud-based BtoB billing service SEIKYU+
https://bizforward.co.jp/seikyuplus/top
Operation of online factoring service SHIKIN+ for small and medium-sized businesses
https://bizforward.co.jp/shikinplus/top
■About Money Forward
Name: Money Forward, Inc.
Location: 21F Tamachi Station Tower S, 3-1-21 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0023
Representative: Yosuke Tsuji, Representative Director, President and CEO
Business: Development and provision of PFM services and cloud services
URL:https://corp.moneyforward.com/
Main Services:
“Money Forward ME”, a service to visualize personal finance https://moneyforward.com/
“Money Forward Cloud”, SaaS platform for back-office operations https://biz.moneyforward.com/
■About MUFG Bank
Name: MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Location: 2-7-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Junichi Hanzawa, President & CEO
Business: Comprehensive financial services
URL: https://www.bk.mufg.jp/
* All company names and product/service names (including logos) are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact
Public Relations: pr@moneyforward.co.jp