OCBC Hong Kong Partners with GS1 HK to Launch Digital Trade Finance Service Enabling Same-Day Approvals for SMEs

HONG KONG, Nov. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its Embedded Financing Strategy, OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited ("OCBC Bank Hong Kong") has partnered with GS1 Hong Kong ("GS1 HK") to launch a digital trade finance service that enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to receive approvals as fast as the same day upon the bank's receipt of transaction data. Leveraging OCBC's "One Group" approach and data-driven fintech capabilities, this collaboration helps local SMEs optimise cash flow, streamline financing, and accelerate business growth and regional expansion.

This partnership benefits banks, GS1 HK, and SMEs alike: it enhances risk management and approval efficiency for OCBC, demonstrates the value of reliable data from GS1 HK, and provides SMEs with faster, more transparent financing – eliminating the need for manual invoice submissions and supporting sustainable business development.

GS1 HK's standard-based platform, ezTRADE, digitalises approximately 24 million transactions of 1,700 companies annually, providing a reliable data foundation that facilitates banks to assess SME creditworthiness. 

All business users of ezTRADE can now apply for OCBC Hong Kong's Effortless Invoice Financing service with significantly shortened approval lead time — approvals can be granted as fast as the same day. Upon users' consent, transaction data from ezTRADE provides the bank with detailed insights into trading activities and business performance, simplifying loan applications and expediting fund disbursement.

Since launching Embedded Financing in 2023, OCBC has approved nearly SGD200 million in loans to hundreds of SMEs across Asia by end-2024. Industry data shows that Effortless Invoice Financing can reduce approval times by up to 50%, underscoring the solution's efficiency and innovation.

Ms. Ruby Yiu, Head of Emerging Business of OCBC Hong Kong, said, "We are proud to collaborate with GS1 HK to provide timely and flexible working capital solutions in today's challenging business environment. SMEs can leverage their own transaction data to gain faster access to quality financial services. For seasonal businesses, such as ice cream retailers, quick financing turnaround is critical during peak periods. This initiative reflects our commitment to innovation and customer-centricity."

Ms. Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 Hong Kong, said, "For years, ezTRADE has been playing a pivotal role in connecting major retailers, e-commerce platforms, food services, personal & beauty care, healthcare providers and their suppliers. By digitalising their day-to-day transaction documents, including purchase orders, invoices & shipment advice, ezTRADE enhances operational efficiency and drives sustainable development. We are pleased to collaborate with OCBC Hong Kong, empowering SMEs to leverage their aggregated data on the platform for streamlined credit assessment, thereby accelerating access to working capital for business needs and driving the development of Hong Kong's digital trade finance ecosystem."

To accelerate SME growth in the region, OCBC Hong Kong has established a cross-divisional expert team supporting integrated trade finance, foreign exchange, and cross-border payment services, offering tailored one-stop cross-border financial solutions. CREME CONCEPTS, a local SME, successfully leveraged ezTRADE data to secure credit funding, enhancing supply chain efficiency and expanding into Asian markets.

Ms. Natasha Chiam, founder of CREME CONCEPTS, shared, "OCBC Hong Kong's digital trade finance services perfectly meet our regional expansion needs. Fast, flexible banking support helps us manage cash flow, unlock funds for innovation, and grow confidently."

In alignment with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's "FinTech 2030" strategy, OCBC Hong Kong continues to promote fintech ecosystems and data sharing to improve SME financing convenience and transparency, supporting sustainable growth and internationalisation.

To learn more about how OCBC Hong Kong supports local businesses in growing and seizing new opportunities, please visit: https://www.ocbc.com.hk/business-banking/en/index.html 

About OCBC

OCBC is the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932 from the merger of three local banks, the oldest of which was founded in 1912. It is one of the world's most highly-rated banks, with Aa1 by Moody's and AA- by both Fitch and S&P. Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC is consistently ranked among the World's Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore by The Asian Banker.

OCBC is the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets. The Group offers a broad array of commercial banking, specialist financial and wealth management services, ranging from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury, insurance, asset management and stockbroking services.

OCBC's private banking services are provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bank of Singapore, which operates on a unique open-architecture product platform to source for the best-in-class products to meet its clients' goals. Its insurance subsidiary, Great Eastern Holdings, is the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. Its asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors, is one of the leading asset management companies in Southeast Asia. Its brokerage subsidiary, OCBC Securities, is one of the leading securities firms in Singapore.

The Group's key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has close to 400 branches and representative offices in 19 countries and regions.

For more information, please visit www.ocbc.com.hk to learn more about OCBC Hong Kong.

About GS1 Hong Kong

GS1 Hong Kong is the local chapter of GS1^®, a global, not-for-profit data standards organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and represented in over 120 countries. We help businesses identify, capture, and share trusted data across both physical and digital supply chains. Through global standards like GTIN (barcodes), GS1 Hong Kong empowers companies to improve efficiency, enhance visibility, and strengthen collaboration.

Building on these standards, we've developed platforms such as ezTRADE for B2B data exchange, ezTRACK for real-time traceability, and 1QR, a GS1 Digital Link-powered platform that delivers rich product information—certifications, sustainability data, and more—via 2D barcodes.

Our trusted data infrastructure now supports trade financing and Scope 3 emissions reporting, helping businesses meet ESG requirements.

In today's AI-driven economy, data quality is essential. GS1 Hong Kong provides a foundation for data that is accurate, visible, linkable, searchable, shareable, and traceable.

Website: www.gs1hk.org 

HONG KONG, Nov. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its Embedded Financing Strategy, OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited ("OCBC Bank Hong Kong") has partnered with GS1 Hong Kong ("GS1 HK") to launch a digital trade finance service that enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to receive approvals as fast as the same day upon the bank's receipt of transaction data. Leveraging OCBC's "One Group" approach and data-driven fintech capabilities, this collaboration helps local SMEs optimise cash flow, streamline financing, and accelerate business growth and regional expansion.

This partnership benefits banks, GS1 HK, and SMEs alike: it enhances risk management and approval efficiency for OCBC, demonstrates the value of reliable data from GS1 HK, and provides SMEs with faster, more transparent financing – eliminating the need for manual invoice submissions and supporting sustainable business development.

GS1 HK's standard-based platform, ezTRADE, digitalises approximately 24 million transactions of 1,700 companies annually, providing a reliable data foundation that facilitates banks to assess SME creditworthiness. 

All business users of ezTRADE can now apply for OCBC Hong Kong's Effortless Invoice Financing service with significantly shortened approval lead time — approvals can be granted as fast as the same day. Upon users' consent, transaction data from ezTRADE provides the bank with detailed insights into trading activities and business performance, simplifying loan applications and expediting fund disbursement.

Since launching Embedded Financing in 2023, OCBC has approved nearly SGD200 million in loans to hundreds of SMEs across Asia by end-2024. Industry data shows that Effortless Invoice Financing can reduce approval times by up to 50%, underscoring the solution's efficiency and innovation.

Ms. Ruby Yiu, Head of Emerging Business of OCBC Hong Kong, said, "We are proud to collaborate with GS1 HK to provide timely and flexible working capital solutions in today's challenging business environment. SMEs can leverage their own transaction data to gain faster access to quality financial services. For seasonal businesses, such as ice cream retailers, quick financing turnaround is critical during peak periods. This initiative reflects our commitment to innovation and customer-centricity."

Ms. Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 Hong Kong, said, "For years, ezTRADE has been playing a pivotal role in connecting major retailers, e-commerce platforms, food services, personal & beauty care, healthcare providers and their suppliers. By digitalising their day-to-day transaction documents, including purchase orders, invoices & shipment advice, ezTRADE enhances operational efficiency and drives sustainable development. We are pleased to collaborate with OCBC Hong Kong, empowering SMEs to leverage their aggregated data on the platform for streamlined credit assessment, thereby accelerating access to working capital for business needs and driving the development of Hong Kong's digital trade finance ecosystem."

To accelerate SME growth in the region, OCBC Hong Kong has established a cross-divisional expert team supporting integrated trade finance, foreign exchange, and cross-border payment services, offering tailored one-stop cross-border financial solutions. CREME CONCEPTS, a local SME, successfully leveraged ezTRADE data to secure credit funding, enhancing supply chain efficiency and expanding into Asian markets.

Ms. Natasha Chiam, founder of CREME CONCEPTS, shared, "OCBC Hong Kong's digital trade finance services perfectly meet our regional expansion needs. Fast, flexible banking support helps us manage cash flow, unlock funds for innovation, and grow confidently."

In alignment with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's "FinTech 2030" strategy, OCBC Hong Kong continues to promote fintech ecosystems and data sharing to improve SME financing convenience and transparency, supporting sustainable growth and internationalisation.

To learn more about how OCBC Hong Kong supports local businesses in growing and seizing new opportunities, please visit: https://www.ocbc.com.hk/business-banking/en/index.html 

About OCBC

OCBC is the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932 from the merger of three local banks, the oldest of which was founded in 1912. It is one of the world's most highly-rated banks, with Aa1 by Moody's and AA- by both Fitch and S&P. Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC is consistently ranked among the World's Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore by The Asian Banker.

OCBC is the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets. The Group offers a broad array of commercial banking, specialist financial and wealth management services, ranging from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury, insurance, asset management and stockbroking services.

OCBC's private banking services are provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bank of Singapore, which operates on a unique open-architecture product platform to source for the best-in-class products to meet its clients' goals. Its insurance subsidiary, Great Eastern Holdings, is the oldest and most established life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia. Its asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors, is one of the leading asset management companies in Southeast Asia. Its brokerage subsidiary, OCBC Securities, is one of the leading securities firms in Singapore.

The Group's key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has close to 400 branches and representative offices in 19 countries and regions.

For more information, please visit www.ocbc.com.hk to learn more about OCBC Hong Kong.

About GS1 Hong Kong

GS1 Hong Kong is the local chapter of GS1^®, a global, not-for-profit data standards organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and represented in over 120 countries. We help businesses identify, capture, and share trusted data across both physical and digital supply chains. Through global standards like GTIN (barcodes), GS1 Hong Kong empowers companies to improve efficiency, enhance visibility, and strengthen collaboration.

Building on these standards, we've developed platforms such as ezTRADE for B2B data exchange, ezTRACK for real-time traceability, and 1QR, a GS1 Digital Link-powered platform that delivers rich product information—certifications, sustainability data, and more—via 2D barcodes.

Our trusted data infrastructure now supports trade financing and Scope 3 emissions reporting, helping businesses meet ESG requirements.

In today's AI-driven economy, data quality is essential. GS1 Hong Kong provides a foundation for data that is accurate, visible, linkable, searchable, shareable, and traceable.

Website: www.gs1hk.org 

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

OCBC Hong Kong Partners with GS1 HK to Launch Digital Trade Finance Service Enabling Same-Day Approvals for SMEs

TOKYO, April 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- GA technologies Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President, CEO: Ryo Higuchi; Stock Code: 3491; hereinafter referred to as the "Company") announces that its AI real estate investment service, "RENOSY," has launched an initiative to rebrand "Renters Warehouse" (operated by RW OpCo, LLC [Headquarters: United States], a Group company), as "RENOSY by Renters Warehouse."

URL: https://www.renterswarehouse.com/

• Background and Outlook of the Brand Integration and Renewal

Since its founding in 2013, the Company has operated under its corporate philosophy:

"Spark excitement and inspiration by fusing technology with innovation to propel the world forward." The Company's core business is the AI real estate investment service "RENOSY," which leverages technology to provide unique one-stop services for property purchase, management, and sale.

RW OpCo, LLC, founded in 2007, operates the real estate investment marketplace "Renters Warehouse." Primarily serving individuals and institutional investors in the United States, the platform functions as an online marketplace and currently operates in 18 states and 31 locations across the country.

The Company completed the consolidation of RW OpCo, LLC as a subsidiary in March 2024 and began providing real estate services in the U.S. market.^[1] Since the fiscal year ending October 2025, the business has maintained strong performance, achieving quarterly profitability and growing rapidly to become the Company's third pillar of profit.^[2]

The Company has now moved to rebrand its U.S. business from "Renters Warehouse" to "RENOSY by Renters Warehouse," aiming to drive further growth in the U.S. market and maximize group synergies. Through the full-scale expansion of "RENOSY" in the U.S. market, the Company looks to promote the adoption of services that enable reliable, seamless, and optimal asset formation through real estate in the country.

The impact of this matter on the Company's business results is insignificant.

• AI Real Estate Investment RENOSY

RENOSY is an AI real estate investment service that utilizes technology. Reliable, seamless, and optimal asset-building through real estate is realized by providing one-stop support for the purchase, management, and sale of property, maximizing operational effectiveness. An extensive product lineup is offered that includes condominiums, apartments, and detached houses, etc. Surveys conducted by Tokyo Shoko Research have ranked RENOSY No. 1 in Japan in real estate investment sales and purchases.^[3]

1. Press release released by GA technologies Co., Ltd. "Notice Regarding Completion of Ownership Acquisition of RW OpCo, LLC, a U.S. Company" (releasing date: March 1, 2024) https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/3491/tdnet/2405406/00.pdf

2. Presentation material released by GA technologies Co., Ltd. "FY2025. 10 Full-year Financial Results" (releasing date: December 15, 2025) https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/3491/tdnet/2731394/00.pdf, and "FY2026. 10 1Q Financial Results" (releasing date: March 17, 2026) https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/3491/tdnet/2777310/00.pdf

3. Press release released by GA technologies Co., Ltd. "AI Real Estate Investment Service RENOSY is Ranked No. 1 in Japan in Sales of Investment Condominiums and Apartments for the Second Consecutive Year" (releasing date: March 31, 2026) https://www.ga-tech.co.jp/news/wherjxrzxv88n_r/