Accelerated carrier invoice factoring using predictive freight transport events

Abstract

Invoice factoring is an invoice financing process where business organizations sell their invoices to banks or financial institutions at a discount to gain faster access to the invoice amount. Carrier organizations, in global trade, exercise invoice factoring to gain quick access to the money they get paid for the shipment of consignments by shippers. Carriers initiate invoice factoring once the invoices are available after the goods delivery. We propose accelerating invoice factoring by predicting the invoice amount at different milestone events as the freight transport progresses from supplier to shipper using smart contracts on a blockchain network operated by the global trade logistics participants. Accurate prediction of the invoice value for ongoing shipment enables the carrier organization to initiate invoice factoring on the trade finance network before the completion of goods delivery to the shipper. Further, based on the past accuracy of prediction models, the financial institutions may choose to release the invoice amount in installments at different freight transportation milestone events.