Export Financing & Trade Credit Survey
Map how exporters, treasury teams, and trade finance managers evaluate, compare, and navigate credit instruments, insurer terms, and financing windows, so you can sharpen acquisition targeting, refine product positioning, and convert high-value trade finance segments.
CONTEXT & RELEVANCE
Why run this survey now
Most exporters don't lose trade deals purely on credit availability. They lose them due to opaque facility terms, insurer coverage gaps, buyer default risk mispricing, bank collateral rigidity, and currency exposure misalignment, none of which fully show up in trade finance dashboards or credit bureau reports.
If you are...
- Export credit agency or ECA
- Trade finance head at a bank
- Credit risk or underwriting lead
- Export revenue or growth head
- Corporate treasury or CFO team
You're likely facing...
- Facility terms: bank vs insurer gap
- Buyer default risk: mispriced or untracked
- Banks = secure/slow perception
- Drop-offs: collateral or documentation stage
- Renewal friction: limit revision delays
This will help answer...
- Credit facility preference drivers
- Application drop-off stage
- Segment split: bank vs insurer
- Pricing tolerance by tenor
- Renewal and switching triggers
RESEARCH THEMES
What This Survey Investigates
Eight interconnected research themes that map the complete export financing journey from credit application to receivables settlement.
Discovery & Awareness
- First financing channel approached
- ECA, bank, or fintech entry point
Preference Drivers
- Facility type selection criteria
- Currency, tenor, and collateral priorities
Product & Structure
- Facility mix across export corridors
- Guarantee coverage and co-financing
Application Friction
- Documentation burden and turnaround gaps
- Drop-offs across credit approval stages
Pricing & WTP
- All-in cost benchmarks by facility type
- Fee sensitivity across credit limit bands
Risk & Coverage
- Buyer default and political risk exposure
- Insurance utilisation across trade corridors
Provider Trust
- Relationship manager responsiveness ratings
- Renewal intent and switching triggers
Competitive Positioning
- Provider share-of-wallet across corridors
- Fintech and non-bank challenger adoption
SAMPLING STRATEGY
Tell us about your ideal sample
Help us understand your target respondent profile. Select what applies, we'll design the optimal sample plan based on your inputs.
METHODOLOGY
Survey approach
For the Export Financing & Trade Credit Survey, we recommend a quant-first design with flexible data-collection modes to balance reach, depth, and verification across exporter segments and financing channels.
EXECUTION PROCESS
How we execute
A proven 9-step process from scoping to delivery, designed to ensure quality, speed, and actionable insights.
Define the decision frame
Confirm objectives, target cohorts, geographies, and reporting cuts
Define the decision frame
Design the instrument
Build workstream modules mapped to outputs (drivers, friction, pricing, retention, trust)
Design the instrument
Lock the questionnaire
Review wording, sequencing, LOI, and competitive context; approve final version
Lock the questionnaire
Pilot and calibrate
Test comprehension and ease quality; refine quotas and remove friction where needed
Pilot and calibrate
Run fieldwork
Execute collection with active quota management and feasibility controls
Run fieldwork
Assure quality
Dedupe, attention checks, speed/consistency rules, removals with audit trail
Assure quality
Prepare the dataset
Clean data and deliver codebook/variable definitions
Prepare the dataset
Analyse and synthesise
Driver ranking, leakage diagnostics, pricing bands, segment insights
Analyse and synthesise
Deliver and align
Executive deck (optional dashboard) and leadership readout with recommendations
Deliver and align
COMMERCIAL TERMS
Request a Commercial Proposal
Pricing depends on cohort, geography, sample size, approach, LOI, and deliverables. Configure below for an indicative estimate.
Select Sample Size
Geography
Select Mode of Survey
Length of the Interview
$0.00
+ applicable taxes
Cost Breakdown
Note: Estimate is indicative only. Final pricing is subject to scope finalization after discovery call.
REFERENCE CASELETS
Reference
Real-world examples of survey work in the export finance and trade credit space.
Documentary credit friction & channel preference among exporters (India)
OBJECTIVE
WHAT WE DID
DELIVERED
Documentary credit friction & channel preference among exporters (India)
Trade credit terms perception & pricing corridor study (South Asia)
Documentary credit friction & channel preference among exporters (India)
OBJECTIVE
A regional trade finance lender needed to map how mid-market exporters and first-time export SMEs choose between letter of credit facilities and open account terms , and which friction points drive abandonment before disbursement.
WHAT WE DID
Ran a structured quant survey across 240 exporters in 6 manufacturing clusters, capturing facility shortlisting criteria , documentation turnaround tolerance , bank versus NBFC preference drivers , and stated switching triggers at each stage of the credit application journey.
DELIVERED
A channel preference map by exporter segment, a ranked friction list across 9 application stages, and a set of acquisition levers targeting first-time exporters who had abandoned a prior facility application within 12 months.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about this survey mandate.
What decisions will this survey enable?
Who is the buyer vs who are the respondents?
Can we see differences between invoice discounting users, letter of credit users and supply chain finance users?
How will you measure trade credit facility selection beyond simple ratings?
Will the survey map the full export financing journey and drop-offs?
Can this survey inform product and pricing strategy?
How will findings improve our trade finance origination and retention performance?
Still have questions?
Schedule a discovery call to discuss your specific needs and get a custom quote.