The Asia Trade & SCF Poll is an annual survey-based analysis of corporate views on trade finance, digital trade, supply-chain finance, working capital, cross-border trade operations and banking relationships in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
This is a concise, data-led report focused on five core findings:
- The leading financing, operational and risk priorities of Asian exporters, importers and supply-chain participants.
- The principal barriers to obtaining and using trade-finance and supply-chain-finance facilities.
- The scale and structure of respondents’ cross-border trade flows.
- The gap between paper-based and digital trade processes.
- The factors that determine which banks corporates appoint, retain or expand for trade and supply-chain finance.
Our goal is to focus on the trade ecosystem: importers, exporters, manufacturers, anchor buyers, suppliers, distributors, logistics and procurement leaders, as well as treasury and finance decision-makers who select banks and determine working-capital policy.
To preserve response rates, we have kept the main questionnaire to 9 questions, using mostly tick-box answers, and making the cash-balance item optional but highly visible.
Editorial output:
- Results are expressed as a percentage of respondents in each market.
- Questions 1, 6B, 7, 8 and 9 permit multiple selections; results may therefore total more than 100%.
- Single-choice-question results may not total exactly 100% due to rounding.
- Fieldwork takes place in December, seeking views on current conditions and expected priorities or actions in the following 12–24 months.
- Do not require respondents to disclose individual transactions, named counterparties, facility limits or confidential pricing.
| # | Respondent | Titles |
| 1 | MNC trade and treasury leaders | Group Treasurer, Regional Treasurer, Head of Trade Finance, Head of Treasury, Treasury Director |
| 2 | MNC procurement and supply-chain leaders | Chief Procurement Officer, Procurement Director, Head of Supply Chain, Supply Chain Finance Head |
| 3 | Large local exporters and regional champions | CFO, Finance Director, Head of Exports, Head of Trade Finance, Commercial Director |
| 4 | Large importers and distributors | CFO, Finance Director, Head of Imports, Procurement Finance Director, Commercial Director |
| 5 | SME and mid-market exporters | Owner-Manager, Managing Director, CFO, Finance Manager, Export Manager |
| 6 | SME importers, distributors and manufacturers | Owner-Manager, CFO, Finance Director, Procurement Manager, Operations Director |
| 7 | Tier-one suppliers to large corporates | CFO, Finance Director, Head of Finance, Supply Chain Finance Manager |
| 8 | Deeper-tier suppliers and subcontractors | Owner-Manager, CFO, Finance Manager, Operations Head |
| 9 | Export-oriented sectors | Sector-specific commercial, treasury, finance or supply-chain executives |
| 10 | Logistics, freight forwarding and trade-service providers | CFO, Head of Trade Services, Commercial Director, Operations Director |
| 11 | E-commerce and marketplace sellers with cross-border flows | CFO, Head of Finance, Marketplace Operations Head, Payments Lead |
| 12 | Trade-credit insurance and export-credit users | CFO, Head of Credit, Trade Finance Director, Risk Director |
| 13 | PE-backed portfolio companies and family-owned conglomerates | Group CFO, Treasurer, Finance Controller, Operating Partner |
Editorial findings:
2024: Cost, collateral and manual trade processes
The December 2023 results show corporates prioritising bank credit access, financing cost, collateral, FX management and paper-heavy processes. Indonesia and the Philippines show the greatest sensitivity to available credit limits and cost of finance, while Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are more advanced in identifying digital integration, corridor access and trade-process efficiency as strategic concerns.
2025: Export recovery and supply-chain investment
The December 2024 data shifts toward investment and growth. The rebound in regional goods exports, particularly in technology-linked supply chains, would reasonably increase demand for export finance, supplier finance, receivables finance and trade-platform connectivity. In this model, Malaysia and Singapore show the clearest move toward open-account trade, SCF and ERP-to-bank integration; Thailand and Indonesia show a rising focus on trade digitisation and supplier resilience.
2026: Resilience, diversification and selective digitisation
The December 2025 findings are designed to show more guarded corporate sentiment. Demand for trade finance remains robust, but the emphasis moves from simply funding trade to protecting supply chains, diversifying markets and suppliers, managing FX and geopolitical risk, and improving data quality and digital connectivity. This is especially visible in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, where supply-chain resilience and integrated trade data become leading priorities; in Indonesia, corporate respondents emphasise limit availability, FX and supplier finance; and in the Philippines, receivables finance, payment security and working-capital access remain central.
Editorial:
Asian Corporates Seek More Than Letters of Credit: Trade Finance Clients Prioritise Supply-Chain Resilience, Digital Connectivity and Working-Capital Access
Report findings:
- Credit appetite still matters most, particularly to SMEs and mid-market importers/exporters in Indonesia and the Philippines.
- Open-account trade expands steadily, especially in Malaysia and Singapore, creating greater demand for receivables finance, supplier finance, dynamic discounting and credit-risk solutions.
- Digitalisation is now a core selection criterion, not simply a back-office improvement. By 2025, it ranks among the principal determinants of trade-bank selection in all five markets.
- Supply-chain finance becomes more sophisticated: corporates increasingly ask for deeper-tier supplier access, faster onboarding, supplier-risk data and solutions that preserve supplier liquidity while allowing anchor buyers to optimise payment terms.
- Trade-bank differentiation requires an integrated proposition: competitive funding and credit limits remain essential, but banks are increasingly judged on cross-border networks, document handling, APIs, ERP integration, FX execution, compliance expertise, analytics and supply-chain-finance delivery.
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