Trade Shield Platform Terms

System-specific terms you will encounter when working in Trade Shield

Action Centre

The central dashboard in Trade Shield where all active workflows and pending tasks are listed. Users come here to see what requires their attention — applications waiting for review, approvals outstanding, or cases that have been reassigned.

Applicant

The person or business entity that receives an email invitation to complete a credit application. This is the debtor — not the Trade Shield user sending the application.

Application Validation Alert

A system notification that flags an issue with a credit application that must be corrected before the workflow can continue. Common triggers include missing required fields or failed identity checks.

Assumed Limits

Credit limits automatically assigned by the system using historical payment data and risk patterns when insufficient bureau data is available to generate a full limit recommendation.

Bureau Data

Credit and risk information retrieved from external data bureaus (such as Inoxico) during the risk assessment stage of a workflow. This data informs risk scores, payment risk ratings, and limit recommendations.

CIPC Company Codes

Classification codes assigned by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) that identify a company's legal type and registration status. Trade Shield uses these codes to validate applicant details during the confirmation stage.

Confirm Subject Details Stage

A workflow step where the debtor's information — such as registration number, trading name, and contact details — is reviewed and confirmed before the application progresses.

Credit Limit Increase

A formal workflow in Trade Shield to raise the maximum credit extended to an existing debtor. This requires a Limit Review and may require approval depending on the amount.

Debtor Information

All system data held for a customer, including registration details, contact information, credit history, and any updates made during workflow stages.

Digital Signature

An electronic method used in Trade Shield to authenticate and finalise document signing. This replaces the need for wet signatures and ensures documents are legally binding and tamper-proof.

End Application Verification

The final stage in the applicant-facing portion of a credit application. This is where the applicant uploads any supporting documents (such as bank statements or financials) before the application is submitted for internal review.

Fabric

The underlying workflow platform developed by Inoxico on which Trade Shield is built. Some screens and system messages may reference Fabric — this is the same system you are working in.

Final Approval Step

The last internal stage in a credit workflow where a credit decision is made and captured. This step results in either an approval, conditional approval, or decline of the credit application.

Fraud Prevention

The set of system controls and verification checks built into Trade Shield workflows to detect and reduce the risk of fraudulent credit applications or identity misrepresentation.

Full Limit Recommendation

A system-generated suggested credit limit based on bureau data, risk scores, turnover multipliers, and internal rules. Users can accept, adjust, or override the recommendation during the Limit Review step.

Initial Risk Check / Risk Knockout

An automated screening step early in the workflow that assesses whether a debtor meets the minimum risk criteria to proceed. If a debtor fails the knockout, the application may be declined or flagged before a full assessment is completed.

Legal Disputes

Cases in Trade Shield that require legal intervention. These are flagged in the system and typically require a legal approver before any credit decision can be made.

Limit Review

The workflow step where a credit analyst evaluates and sets or adjusts the credit limit for a debtor. The analyst reviews the system recommendation, risk scores, and any uploaded financials before capturing a final limit decision.

Mandate / Approval Authority

The maximum credit limit a user is authorised to approve without escalating to a higher approval level. If a recommended or requested limit exceeds a user's mandate, the workflow routes to the next approver automatically.

Maximum Limit

The highest allowable credit limit that can be approved for a debtor, calculated using turnover multipliers and system rules. A limit cannot be set above this value without special override authorisation.

Minimum Limit

The lowest allowable credit limit for a debtor (e.g., R0). The system will not recommend or accept a limit below this threshold.

New Credit Application Workflow

The end-to-end process in Trade Shield for onboarding a new debtor and assessing their creditworthiness. This includes sending the application, applicant completion, risk checks, limit review, and final approval.

Non-CIPC Registered Company

A business entity that is not registered with the CIPC — for example, a sole proprietor or foreign entity. These applicants follow a different verification path in Trade Shield as automated CIPC lookups will not return results.

Reassign Application

Transferring an active workflow to a different internal user for completion. The workflow history is retained. Use this when the original assignee is unavailable or the case needs to be handled by a different team member.

Resend Application

Sending the applicant invitation link again — for example, if the applicant did not receive the original email or the link has expired. This does not restart the workflow from the beginning.

Subject

The debtor or applicant entity that a workflow is being conducted on. You will see this term used throughout Fabric/Trade Shield when referring to the company or individual under assessment.

Sufficient Bank Code

A system-generated code indicating whether a debtor has demonstrated sufficient banking activity to support a requested credit limit at a specific point in time. Used in conjunction with bureau data during limit assessment.

Workflow Stage

The current status of a case within a Trade Shield workflow. Stage names indicate where a case is in the process — for example, New Buyer, Application Modified, Awaiting Approval, or In Review.

General Credit Management Terms

Industry-standard terminology used in credit risk and financial management

AR Deregistration

Deregistration of a company due to non-compliance with Annual Returns (AR) or Beneficial Ownership Declarations. The company remains on the CIPC register but loses its good standing.

AR Finals Deregistration

Final deregistration from the CIPC register after more than three years of non-compliance with Annual Returns. The company is no longer legally recognised.

AR Restoration

The process of reinstating a company that was deregistered for Annual Return non-compliance, by submitting all outstanding documents to the CIPC.

Business Rescue

A formal legal status indicating that a company is under court-supervised restructuring to avoid liquidation. Trading on credit with a company under business rescue carries elevated risk.

Credit

Goods or services provided to a customer on the agreement that payment will be made at a later date (trade receivables). Credit creates a debt obligation between the supplier and the debtor.

Default Risk

The probability that a debtor will default on their payment obligation — typically defined as payments overdue by 90 or more days. Default risk is forward-looking and is modelled to predict the likelihood of default 6–12 months ahead.

Deregistered

A company that has been removed from the CIPC register and is no longer a legally recognised entity in South Africa.

EAD — Exposure at Default

The total rand value of credit that is at risk if a debtor defaults. This is the outstanding balance the creditor stands to lose at the moment of default.

ECL — Expected Credit Loss

The statistically forecasted loss on a credit product. Calculated as:

General Partnership

A business owned and operated by two or more individuals who share profits, responsibilities, and liabilities. General partnerships are not registered with the CIPC in the same way as companies.

Impairment / Provision

An amount set aside in a company's accounts to cover expected losses on credit extended. Provisioning is a risk management and accounting requirement — it reduces the reported value of trade receivables to reflect realistic recovery expectations.

In Business

A CIPC status indicating that a company is actively registered, trading, and compliant with its statutory obligations.

In Liquidation

A legal status where a company's assets are being sold off to repay creditors. A company in liquidation is effectively closing down. Extending credit to a company in liquidation is extremely high risk.

Insolvency

A financial state where a debtor is unable to pay their debts as they fall due. Insolvency may lead to liquidation or business rescue proceedings.

LGD — Loss Given Default

The percentage of the Exposure at Default (EAD) that is expected to be unrecoverable if a debtor defaults. For example, an LGD of 60% means 60 cents in every rand owed is expected to be lost.

Payment Risk

The likelihood that a debtor will pay late or miss scheduled payments. This is distinct from Default Risk — a debtor can have high payment risk (chronic late payer) without being at risk of full default.

PD — Probability of Default

A statistical measure of the likelihood that a debtor will default on their credit obligation within a given timeframe. Expressed as a percentage — a higher PD means greater credit risk.

POPI Act

The Protection of Personal Information Act — South African legislation that governs how personal information may be collected, stored, processed, and shared. All Trade Shield users and processes must comply with POPI.

Provisional Liquidation

A temporary court order placing a company under external control to protect its assets while the court assesses whether final liquidation should proceed.

Sole Proprietorship

A business owned and operated by a single individual with no legal separation between the owner and the business. Credit applications for sole proprietors follow a different verification path as they are not registered with the CIPC.

Trade Receivables

Amounts owed to your business by customers for goods or services that have been delivered but not yet paid for. Trade receivables are a key asset on the balance sheet and the primary exposure managed through Trade Shield.