OCBC, Visa and Doxa launch live deep-tier supply chain finance for Singapore construction

OCBC, Visa and Doxa have put a deep-tier working-capital solution into live use in Singapore’s construction sector, allowing subcontractors further down project supply chains to receive cash once their work claims are approved rather than waiting as long as 100 days for normal payment.

The arrangement operates through Doxa’s Connex procurement and payment platform. Once a developer or main contractor digitally approves a work claim, an eligible subcontractor can access early payment before the invoice reaches its contractual due date. Funds are delivered using OCBC virtual purchasing cards and can then be transferred into the subcontractor’s bank account or used to pay its own suppliers.

That structure moves financing below the direct buyer-supplier relationship that dominates conventional supply chain finance. Instead of liquidity stopping with a first-tier contractor, approved project information can trigger financing for businesses operating further down the chain, where payment delays and weaker balance sheets can make working-capital pressure more acute.

The solution went live in August and has already funded its first subcontractor. Kimly Construction is among the early users and is deploying the model across two existing projects while additional subcontractors are onboarded. Pricing, financing limits, tenor, recourse arrangements and detailed credit-risk allocation were not disclosed.

The launch builds on earlier work involving Visa and Doxa. In 2023, Visa, UOB and Doxa announced an Asia-Pacific deep-tier financing pilot using the same broad concept of funding subcontractors after work certification. That initiative initially used past projects to simulate the process. The new OCBC deployment is therefore better characterised as a live operational rollout rather than the industry’s first exploration of the structure.

For construction suppliers, the financing issue is particularly acute because cash can pass through several contracting layers before reaching businesses that have already paid wages, materials and subcontractor costs.

By connecting financing to digitally approved project data, the new structure attempts to reduce that timing gap while retaining transaction traceability.

The important test will now be scale. Deep-tier finance has long promised to extend anchor-supported liquidity beyond first-tier suppliers. A live deployment with funded subcontractors provides a clearer test of whether that promise can operate through complex real-world project chains.