Ai2, a prominent independent payment service provider in the floral industry, is making waves by streamlining financial transactions between flower growers, wholesalers, and exporters worldwide. With seamless integration into ERP systems, Ai2 ensures that growers receive their payments efficiently, especially when directly dealing with wholesalers and exporters.
If you are visiting this year's IFTEX, or maybe you even have your own booth there? Then this might be the year that everything changes for you. Ai2 comes to Nairobi to help you with the financial part of your transactions. No more worries, so you can focus again on what you do best: growing and trading flowers.
Bart Fransen from Ai2 explains what's in it for you.
Ai2? What's That?
Ai2 stands for 'Agri Inter Incasso', a household name in Europe for players in the horticultural industry, a payment platform with more than 1,250 active companies within the floriculture sector such as growers, exporters, importers, trading companies, and suppliers like packaging companies, ICT companies, and so on.
Bart Fransen:
"We collect money for flower growers who do business directly with buyers such as flower wholesalers and exporters. Ai2 currently collects for about 25 companies from Africa, 20 of which are from Kenya. If you look at the entire market in Kenya, it is still very small, but we think we can help more Kenyan and other African companies to trade directly with Europe without the intervention of traditional auctions and other intermediaries."
Ai2's online debt collection services make it possible for all parties in the floriculture sector to pay each other in a simple, efficient, and affordable way. Ai2 ensures the correct collection and payment of your transactions. You have instant control over your receivables, service to your customer, insight into outstanding items, and lower costs.
What Is Online Debt Collection?
Incasso-online is a fully automated and secure collection system that is tailor-made for the floriculture industry. With Incasso-online, every user has a good overview of completed and future transactions that have been offered. If you log in as an Ai2 customer to arrange transactions, you enter Incasso-online a program that has been specially developed to process direct debit messages from different parties on a large scale.
First Time at IFTEX
This year marks Ai2's first visit to the International Flower Trade Expo (IFTEX) in Kenya. The team considers this event essential for strengthening current customer relationships, gaining new clients, and understanding the sector's growth trajectory in Kenya.
Here, Bart Fransen and his colleague Frank Grunder are eager to connect with existing and potential clients, logistics companies, and flower growers to grasp the ins and outs of the Kenyan floral sector.
Bart:
"Kenya plays a significant role in Ai2's global strategy. While historically focused on the Netherlands and Belgium, Kenya is their first step in breaking into the intercontinental market. Therefore, seeing the industry firsthand helps us immensely in building our knowledge. From there, we want to show how straightforward it is to handle direct transactions with European customers through us. Our focus is on letting growers know we're here for them, rather than pursuing immediate sales.
At IFTEX we will be able to show growers firsthand how Ai2 provides tremendous value, reducing financial stress by handling order payments. In the bigger picture, we improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness in Africa's floral sector by streamlining transaction handling."
How International Floral Professionals Benefit From Ai2
What would be the added value for floral professionals to use the services of Ai2? In other words: What is the answer to the question "What's in it for me?"
Bart:
"We are independent, and currently the cheapest service provider in the handling of the financial transaction. We offer assured payment within five working days on the account, and for African growers, we also have the option of weekly payments to minimize bank fees. We're an insured way to settle transactions, charging no daily fees but billing monthly afterward."
Challenges in the Kenyan Floral Market
This year, Ai2 is focused on gaining insights into the Kenyan market, from cultivation to logistics and financial handling.
Bart:
"Me and Frank Grunder plan to visit farms and logistics partners to broaden our knowledge and align our platform with the preferences and standards of our African customers."
Creating Value for Kenyan and other African Growers
Ai2’s presence at IFTEX 2024 is not just about showing their face. It's all about what they can do for this part of the supply chain: creating value for African growers. Their efficient, transparent payment solutions provide a pathway for growers to engage directly with European buyers, fostering a healthier, more streamlined trade environment. By visiting IFTEX, they're ready to deepen their understanding and build strong partnerships that will shape their success in the African floral market.
So, if you are attending the IFTEX 2024, make an appointment to get in touch with Ai2 and connect.
