Every little helps

摘要

GROWING up on a sugar-cane farm in Australia, Lex Greensill had a front-seat view of the strains suppliers suffer as they wait to be paid. After harvesting his crops, Mr Greensill's father had to wait a year or more to receive payment. Across industries, buyers are eager to conserve their cash. Delaying payment is one way to do it: among the most important for some, such as big retailers, says Mr Greensill. Many buyers expect their suppliers to accept payment months after delivery. Even so, many still pay late-47% of suppliers surveyed by Taulia, a fintech firm, said they had this problem. In 2011 Mr Greensill founded Greensill Capital, one of a cluster of new fintech firms overhauling how supply chains are financed.