According to the companies, one of the major innovations is that customers can have pre-approved credit limits without needing to provide collateral for credit purchases.
The goal is to “boost input sales in a secure, predictable, and 100% digital way,” said Bayer and Farmtech. In practice, Bayer, through its retailers, requested Farmtech to pre-approve credit limits for its partners. With the limit approved, Bayer’s relationship teams and their distributors have a unique tool to negotiate product sales with credit already arranged for their clients. Bayer then processes purchase orders under the CropCredit model, delivering the inputs to the preferred address. All transaction processing, from credit approvals and formalization to payment facilitation, occurs via Farmtech’s platform for the customer, distributor, and Bayer team.
Marcos Arruda, Finance Director of Bayer’s Agricultural Division in Brazil, explained that the company had been heavily investing in long-term relationships with the entire production chain, putting the customer at the center of the strategy by offering more financial solutions.
“We work to meet the needs of our partners, which includes enabling faster and simplified credit access options with advantageous conditions for our customers. In this sense, the partnership with Farmtech expands access to credit lines for producers and distributors, aiding in purchase management and planning,” he said.
So far, over 2,000 Bayer customers have had their credits pre-approved within the program, amounting to a credit potential of more than BRL2.5 billion.
“Thanks to sustainable relationships with retailers and customers, through the partnership with Farmtech, faster credit approval with attractive interest rates will be possible when the customer needs it,” Marcos emphasized.
Bayer had already tested CropCredit, and following positive results from the pilot at the end of 2023, it is now being offered nationwide.
