Octet, a global supply chain finance management platform, has appointed Marius Savin as its first executive in Europe.

His arrival as the group’s Europe representative signals further growth for the Australian company, which earlier this year recruited global experts from NAB, Citibank and IBM to ramp up the global expansion of its platform.

The company’s entry into Europe follows a recent partnership between Octet and Westpac to launch Business Link, an Octet-enabled supply chain management platform.

The platform is available to businesses around the world who trade with partners in countries including Australia, Canada, the US and China.

Savin will be responsible for growing the Octet business community in Europe by onboarding additional financial institutions and businesses of all sizes from multinationals to SMEs in the region.

“We envisage a global financial community in which businesses, particularly SMEs, can access working capital finance while conducting safe and efficient transactions using multiple payment methods. This includes simplifying the use of corporate credit cards to pay regular suppliers, wherever they are in the world. Expanding into Europe will help us create this ambition into a reality,” Savin says.

Savin brings over 15 years of banking and finance experience to his new role. He previously held positions at Standard Chartered, Fimbank and UniCredit. As the chairman of the innovation committee in the International Factors Group, Savin is also actively involved in forming best practice initiatives around international factoring and supply chain finance.

Octet envisages additional hires for its European team to support Savin, in due course.

The Octet platform is a supply chain management and financing platform that allows businesses to negotiate and transact with suppliers and manufacturers globally in one central place, with everything stored in the cloud. The platform lets businesses use any payment method to pay suppliers quickly and conveniently without needing to ensure that suppliers are merchants. The platform has been used by over 10,000 suppliers across 60 countries to date.