Commonwealth Bank Australia (CBA) has appointed Anna Jones as executive manager for working capital partnerships as the lender looks to expand its working capital business.

In the newly created role, Jones joins a new working capital team led by Andrew Speers, general manager for working capital.

The move marks a return to CBA for Jones, who last worked at the bank in 2008. She has also held senior trade finance roles in Singapore for JP Morgan, Westpac and Standard Chartered. Most recently, she was head of product for consulting firm Financial Supply Chain Strategic Advisory.

At CBA in Melbourne, Jones leads the partnerships strategy for working capital, focusing on “innovative solutions to create an exceptional ease of doing business”, the bank tells GTR. The goal of the new team is “to become the leading domestic provider of working capital to Australian supply chains”.

“The disruptions caused by Covid-19 have accelerated the demand for digital solutions and working capital to better manage unforeseen and unexpected disruptions,” Jones says.

“It is about supply chain resilience and creating better oversight for greater adaptability. We aim to support our clients, help inform strategy and inject finance into their supply chains where they need it most. We know our clients value quick decisions and want to leverage their inventory and receivables as security – this is the focus of our business and our partnership strategy.”

In June CBA launched a digital working capital platform called Stream, which it says plugs into accounting software such as Xero to provide live data on businesses’ capital needs.

The bank said at the time that it is tapping an opportunity to “deliver billions of dollars of additional funding to Australian businesses” because receivables funding solutions in Australia lag those in Europe and the US.