At the FCI 58th Annual Meeting in Lisbon, Trade Treasury Payments (TTP) spoke with Betul Kurtulus, Deputy Secretary General of FCI, about receivables finance, the growing importance of emerging markets, and the partnerships shaping the industry’s future.

FCI is a global representative body for the factoring and receivables finance industry, bringing together banks, non-bank financial institutions, and service providers across more than 90 countries. Its remit spans a broad range of supply chain finance solutions, including both receivables finance (factoring) and payables finance programmes, and the organisation has played a key role in developing the four-corner interoperability model that underpins many cross-border transactions.

The meeting also comes during a period of transition for the association, following the announcement in February that Secretary General Neal Harm will retire in September 2026, concluding a three-decade career within the global factoring and receivables finance industry. FCI is expected to announce his successor later this year.

At the Annual Meeting, core topics and discussions evolved around the changing face of digitalisation within factoring and receivables finance, the continued need for advocacy and education, as well as legal advancements in adopting model factoring laws in markets around the world.

The growth of the factoring industry

According to FCI’s latest annual review, global factoring volumes have now surpassed the €4tn mark. Europe has yet again retained the top spot in terms of market size, but several new regions and trade corridors are beginning to contribute an even greater share to the growing market.

“I would prefer to say the industry is expanding rather than shifting,” Kurtulus said. “Europe is the biggest market, but now the growth is coming from different regions.”

The United States is one of the markets that has been increasing its share of global receivables finance activity. Across the Americas, factoring volumes continued to expand in 2024, with North America recording volume growth of 28%, while Latin America and the Caribbean increased their share of global factoring volumes from 3% to 3.8%. According to FCI, the region now accounts for 6.9% of global factoring activity.

Asia-Pacific remains another major engine of growth. While China continues to dominate the region, accounting for roughly 70% of total volumes, India has become the fastest-growing market in 2024, with factoring volumes increasing by 120% to €38.2bn. The growth arguably stems from a series of reforms designed to expand access to receivables finance, including changes to India’s Factoring Regulation Act, the expansion of the country’s TReDS ecosystem, and efforts to strengthen cross-border financing infrastructure through GIFT City. Many delegates at the conference pointed to India as a market that could play an increasingly important role in the next phase of global factoring growth.

The industry’s growth, however, is also increasingly visible across a number of emerging markets. In Africa, factoring volumes rose by 5.9% to €50.3bn, with South Africa accounting for more than 80% of the continent’s total volume. Morocco recorded almost 50% growth, while Egypt and Mauritius also posted notable gains. Meanwhile, Central and South Eastern Europe recorded 4.5% growth despite a broader economic slowdown, underscoring the resilience of receivables finance demand across developing markets.

The Annual Review also covered key priorities for FCI, including advancing digitalisation to enhance operational efficiency and foster a more collaborative trade finance ecosystem. It also emphasised that FCI’s advocacy efforts aim to positively influence regulatory frameworks, ensuring a supportive environment for industry growth worldwide.

A collaborative approach

Another of FCI’s priorities in the years to come is deepening its collaboration with multilateral development banks, including Afreximbank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IDB Invest, International Finance Corporation, and the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, as well as international bodies such as the International Chamber of Commerce and World Trade Organization. One of the organisation’s flagship research initiatives is its Legal Study, a comparative analysis of receivables finance laws and regulations across 91 jurisdictions. Covering issues ranging from assignment of receivables and insolvency frameworks to electronic signatures, taxation, and international factoring, the study is intended to help market participants, regulators, and policymakers better understand the legal foundations that support the growth of receivables finance around the world. This study will be expanded to cover more markets, as well as strengthen FCI’s data and intelligence initiatives, as presented by the leadership team during the annual meeting.

Alongside these efforts, FCI and UNIDROIT have launched a Guide to Enactment for the Model Law on Factoring. The Model Law, adopted in 2023, was designed to provide countries with a modern legal framework for receivables finance, particularly in jurisdictions where factoring legislation is underdeveloped or fragmented. 

The new Guide to Enactment builds on that foundation by providing policymakers and legislators with practical guidance on implementation, covering issues such as the assignment of receivables, electronic registries, creditor rights, and the legal treatment of factoring transactions. The aim is to reduce legal uncertainty and make it easier for countries to establish frameworks that support greater access to receivables finance, particularly for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.

Looking ahead, Kurtulus believes the future of the industry will depend less on individual institutions and more on this kind of collaboration across the ecosystem. That theme ran throughout the conference, from discussions on building a more digital and collaborative trade finance ecosystem during the strategic roundtables to a dedicated panel examining how multilateral development banks can work alongside factors to expand access to receivables finance and support market growth.

“We will design the future altogether because digitalisation is not easy,” Kurtulus said. “How we digitise our business is a much more difficult question.”

“The whole aim is to close the trade finance gap,” she added. “If we can manage to increase financing in five years’ time, from 10 to 15%, then it is going to be valuable for countries and employment.”

It’s important, after all, not to lose sight of the overarching objective.