Many of the businessmen turn towards Cash Credit facility, Overdraft or Dropline OD offered by DBS Bank or any other lending institution to meet their funding needs for working capital requirements. However, they get confused as to what type of working capital instrument would suit them given their personal and professional objectives. The objective of this article is to decipher this confusion and give clarity on the subject matter.
Types of Fund-Based Working Capital by DBS Bank
Following are the three most common types of working capital funding instruments, which a business borrower can resort to from DBS Bank.
- Cash Credit (CC) from DBS Bank:
In this case, the DBS Bank sanctions a particular amount of credit limit and you are free to use any amount within that limit. Interest is levied only on the amount you actually utilise (on daily balance basis) and not on the full sanction limit. However, the maximum amount you can use in a particular month is lower of the two parameters:
- actual sanction limit or
- amount derived as per your eligibility in the Drawing Power (DP)
- DBS Bank Overdraft (OD):
DBS Bank Overdraft (OD) is generally given to very small borrowers and works similar to Cash Credit on the same principle. However, one major difference is that the requirement of DP statement is not applicable here and one need not submit any stock statement related information to the DBS Bank on a monthly basis. Here also, you pay interest on the amount actually utilised on a daily basis.
- DBS Dropline Overdraft (DOD):
DBS Dropline Overdraft (DOD) is an innovative concept and is introduced by certain banks to cater to the working capital needs of certain sections of the borrower. At times, the borrower wishes to get debt free but knows that this cannot happen overnight – it has to be a gradual and disciplined process. DBS Dropline Overdraft (DOD) comes to the rescue for these types of borrowers. In case of DBS Dropline Overdraft (DOD), one is free to utilise the working capital funds just like CC / OD and you actually pay interest only on the amount utilised. However, every month, a fixed amount of credit limit is gradually reduced so as to ensure that you have discipline to manage your business with a little lower banking limit. Over a period of next 3-5 years, it is expected that your limit gradually becomes zero; you have a good discipline to run your business without bank funding and become debt free.
Difference Between the Different Types of Fund-Based Working Capital by DBS Bank
A tabular comparison of all the three working capital instruments is given hereunder:
| Parameters | Cash Credit by DBS Bank | Overdraft Facility by DBS Bank | Dropline OD by DBS Bank |
| Credit Limit | Fixed | Fixed | Reduces gradually |
| Purpose | For working capital | Could be for general business purpose | Normally for working capital |
| Credit Limit | Fixed | Fixed | Reduces gradually |
| Interest | Charged at month end on running daily balances | ||
| Interest Rate | Slightly lower than other instruments | Marginally higher than Cash Credit (at times) | |
| Processing Fee | Applicable & paid on entire sanction limit | Paid on entire limit even though you don’t have that limit for full year | |
| WCDL sub-limit | Can be given on case to case basis | Not offered | |
| Drawing Power (DP) Statement | To be submitted every month | Not needed | Normally not required |
| Stock Audit | Required to be done (at borrower’s expense) | Not Required | |
| Collateral Needed | Marginally lower than Overdraft / Dropline OD | Marginally higher than Cash Credit | |
| Repayment of Loan | Ideally, on bank’s demand; however, the same gets annually renewed and no repayment actually happens
On Demand |
Monthly, quarterly,half yearly or yearly | |
| Tenure | 12 months | 12 months | For longer period |
| Monitoring by Bank | Regularly | Irregular | Partially Done |
| Bank’s Comfort | Very likely – most common product, subject to credit satisfaction | For small loans and depending upon the nature / profile of the borrowers | Mixed (only certain banks) |
Which banking instrument (CC / OD / DOD) is good for you?
Deciding between various fund-based working capital offered by DBS Bank’ Cash Credit, Bank Overdraft and Dropline OD, can be a mounting task. The answer to above depends upon a host of factors.
- Overdraft facility is generally offered by DBS Bank only on loans upto Rs. 3-5 crore. For amounts beyond Rs. 5 crore, banks prefer to seriously monitor the borrower’s financial performance rigorously and review stock statements every month. Hence, they shall offer Cash Credit and not Overdraft facility.
- What is your mindset and capability as a borrower? Do you want to become debt free? Then, a forced discipline mechanism of Dropline OD would be apt for you. However, in case you think the business will severely get impacted because of consistent limit reduction every month and you shall not be at ease; then Dropline Overdraft (DOD) is not meant for you.
- Do you have enough resources / bandwidth / systems within your company, who shall work tirelessly and provide the DP Statement to the DBS Bank every month? If no, then you may explore availing Overdraft instead of CC or simply choose to contact us at Bankkeeping.
So, to conclude, all these instruments, Cash Credit, Overdraft and Dropline OD, have their own pros and cons and these have been designed by DBS Bank or other Banks keeping in mind the different categories of borrowers. So, go ahead and choose the one which is best suited for you.