The service, the result of the joint know-how and proprietary solutions of the two players, provides companies with an additional line of credit, as well as controlled, automated and secure management of authorization flows, to support a more rapid inflow of liquidity into the supply chain.

Thanks to the integration between Piteco's software and Nexi's virtual credit cards, the new supply chain finance solution provides companies with tools capable of optimizing cash flows, reducing in a sustainable and responsible way impacts in terms of liquidity, and therefore the scheduling of payments, that the increasingly complex macroeconomic and geopolitical scenarios are having on the market and the supply chain.

Furthermore, businesses can now rely on an additional line of credit by arranging for timely payments to suppliers based on deferred debit. The service offers significant efficiency gains in the management of authorization processes, which are fully automated.

The entire process contributes to reducing the financial stress to which most companies in the supply chain may be exposed, especially those at the tail end. As of September 2021, companies in Italy that paid their suppliers with a delay exceeding 30 days represented 11.8% of the total, while 38% of companies paid on time. These figures are improving but are still experiencing the effects of the pandemic, as reflected by the growth in the number of significantly late payments (+12.4%) compared to the end of 2019 .

"The partnership with Piteco allows us to provide Italian companies with an innovative, reliable and secure tool that offers them tangible advantages in the daily management of their liquidity - says Alberto Panariello, Head of Cards Sales & Partnerships at Nexi - This is a significant expansion of the range of services we offer businesses and proof of how digital payments can guarantee large corporations and SMEs efficiency, speed and better business management".

Paolo Virenti, CEO of Piteco, commented: "In a delicate moment like the current one, reducing payment times increasingly becomes a key factor in relations with partners and suppliers. Through this important partnership with Nexi, Piteco is proud to continue contributing to the creation of a true Supply Chain Finance culture. A culture that combines, on the one hand, the need to make processes seamless and more efficient, and on the other, the desire to operate in a manner consistent with the increasingly widespread and rigorous ESG policies that companies design and adopt. The commitment to generating value for all the stakeholders clearly identifies solutions designed to protect and support the supply chain of partners and suppliers as being essential tools. To continue designing and developing these solutions for our clients, while at the same time looking at how they can enable new growth paths for the clients themselves, is in turn what we see as one of Piteco's main responsibilities".