The Wall Street Journal reports that US President Barack Obama will announce on Friday a program aiming to help small companies. Apple is among the companies signing up to speed up payments to their suppliers.
The program, called “SupplierPay”, is a voluntary program, and since Apple has already signed up, it has committed to pay its small suppliers faster or to help them get access to lower-cost capital.
What this means for small companies is that Apple will pay their bills within 15 days of receiving a product or service. This means quicker payments so these companies can strengthen their cash flow and lower the need for borrowing, according to the QuickPay program’s guidelines that the SupplierPay builds upon.
The program will “strengthen small businesses by increasing their working capital, so they can grow their businesses and hire more workers,” the White House said in a statement.
While QuickPay is intended for federal small business subcontractors, SupplierPay is designed to be its private-sector counterpart. The program lists companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Cardinal Health Inc., FedEx, and others.
