Why FNB refers SMEs to a specialist funder
A confirmed purchase order asks a different question from a business facility. Why FNB refers SMEs to Sourcefin, and what stays exactly the same.
On this page
FNB refers SMEs to a specialist funder when a confirmed purchase order needs working capital that a general business facility is not designed to provide. Through a referral arrangement, FNB introduces eligible business clients to Sourcefin, which assesses the deal itself and funds the supply side of the order. Your banking relationship carries on unchanged.
Key takeaways
- A confirmed purchase order asks a narrower question than a general facility: can this deal be delivered, and will the customer pay?
- FNB refers and brings trusted banking infrastructure. Sourcefin assesses, decides and funds.
- A referral is an introduction, not an offer of funding. Sourcefin makes the credit decision independently.
- Your FNB accounts, facilities and Relationship Manager stay exactly as they are.
Why does FNB refer SMEs to a specialist funder?
Because the funding need in front of the business is a specific one. A general business facility is built around the business as a whole: its trading history, its income and its ability to service repayments over time. A confirmed purchase order raises a narrower question. Your business has already won the work, and it needs supplier costs, stock, materials or logistics paid before the customer pays for the delivery.
That second question is what Purchase Order Financing (POF) is designed to answer. Rather than assessing the business first and the use of funds second, a specialist funder starts with the deal: the order, the customer, the supply path and your ability to deliver. It is a different assessment model, built for a different job.
So when FNB refers an eligible business client to Sourcefin, it is matching a funding need to the model designed for it. Working with FNB brings trusted banking infrastructure together with open-minded funding, and each organisation does what it is built for, for the same customer. The Sourcefin and FNB referral arrangement sets out how the two roles are split.
What a confirmed purchase order asks of a funder
Funding a purchase order is practical, deal-by-deal work. With POF, Sourcefin pays suppliers directly, covers the stock or materials the order needs and settles logistics, rather than advancing a lump sum to the business. Sourcefin is then repaid from the customer's payment for that delivery, and your business keeps its profit.
That model needs things a general facility is not set up to look for:
- Verification of the order itself – its scope, value, delivery terms and the parties to it.
- A view on the customer – whether the organisation that issued the order is credible and will pay on the agreed terms.
- A supply path Sourcefin can pay into – suppliers with costs that can be verified.
- Attention through delivery – because the funding follows the order from supplier payment to customer payment.
Sourcefin has been funding confirmed work this way since 2020. For the product itself, start with FNB purchase order financing, or read Sourcefin's quick guide to the product.
What a referral is – and what it is not
A referral is an introduction. FNB can refer eligible business clients to Sourcefin for consideration for POF. From that point, all assessments and decisions are made solely by Sourcefin. FNB does not assess, approve or fund applications, and a referral does not guarantee that funding will be offered.
That split is deliberate, and it works in your favour. Sourcefin makes the credit decision independently, in line with its own credit and risk processes, so the deal is judged on its own merits by the team that will fund it.
A referral is also not the bank stepping away. The accounts, facilities and relationship your business already holds with FNB carry on as they did. The referral answers one question about one deal. For the step-by-step journey from Relationship Manager to delivery, see how FNB purchase order financing works.
What the referral changes for your business
For a business holding a confirmed order, the practical difference is time and fit. Instead of searching for a funder that understands supply-side funding, your business is introduced to one through a bank it already works with. The conversation starts from the deal you have won, not from a general application.
Joshua Kadish, CEO and co-founder of Sourcefin, describes the logic in two lines.
"Banks bring scale and trust. Specialists bring speed and fit-for-purpose structures."
– Joshua Kadish, CEO and co-founder, Sourcefin
Access to appropriate finance remains a persistent constraint for South African small businesses, a theme that FinMark Trust and the IFC SME Finance Forum both track. A referral route between a bank and a specialist funder is one practical answer for work that already exists.
When the referral route fits
The referral route is built for a specific situation. Sourcefin's Purchase Order Financing is designed for businesses with a confirmed purchase order or tender, typically R250 000 or more in value. Sectors we commonly fund include construction, manufacturing, ICT, logistics, maintenance, cleaning services and public sector contracts, though we consider any sector with confirmed work. It is available with limited balance sheet support, where your business can demonstrate the ability to deliver.
It is not designed for every need. General expansion capital, an ongoing overdraft requirement or funding for work that has not yet been confirmed are different questions, and they sit with the products built for them. FNB purchase order financing eligibility covers the four questions Sourcefin asks of every deal.
How to start the conversation
If your business banks with FNB and has a confirmed order, raise that specific deal with your Relationship Manager. Full detail on the route sits on the FNB purchase order financing page, and when you are ready you can start your application. Before you speak to any funder, questions to ask a purchase order funder is worth ten minutes of your time.
Sources & references
- FinMark Trust – FinScope research on access to finance.
- IFC SME Finance Forum – MSME finance gap data, World Bank Group.
- Department of Small Business Development – South African small-business policy and reporting.
Frequently asked questions
Is a referral to a specialist funder a judgement on my business?
A referral to a specialist funder reflects the type of funding one deal needs, not a judgement on the business. A general facility is built around trading history and income, while Purchase Order Financing (POF) is built around a confirmed order and its supply path. FNB refers eligible clients so that a deal-led need meets a deal-led assessment, and the existing banking relationship continues.
Will my FNB banking relationship change if FNB refers my business to Sourcefin?
An FNB banking relationship stays as it is after a referral to Sourcefin. The referral is an introduction for one specific deal that needs Purchase Order Financing (POF). Accounts, existing facilities and the Relationship Manager carry on as before, and Sourcefin works on the confirmed order alongside that relationship rather than in place of it.
What kind of funding need does FNB refer to Sourcefin?
FNB can refer eligible business clients who hold a confirmed purchase order or tender, typically R250 000 or more in value, and who need working capital to deliver it. Purchase Order Financing (POF) covers supplier costs, stock, materials and logistics for that order. General expansion capital or work that is not yet confirmed sits with other products.
Why does a specialist funder assess a purchase order differently from a bank facility?
A specialist funder starts with the deal rather than the business. Sourcefin verifies the purchase order, the credibility of the customer, the supply path it will pay into and the business's ability to deliver. Because Purchase Order Financing (POF) is repaid from the customer's payment for that delivery, those four questions carry more weight than trading history alone.
Sourcefin is a South African alternative finance provider that offers purchase order funding and invoice discounting to SMMEs, enabling businesses to fulfil confirmed purchase orders or tenders and unlock cash flow without collateral. Unlike traditional lenders or banks, Sourcefin also provides end-to-end support including supplier sourcing, logistics, project management, and risk oversight.
