Hokodo

Service Overview

Hokodo is a UK provider of B2B trade credit and digital trade accounts. There are 4 product blocks: Pay Later (30/60/90 day terms), installments, Trade Account (trade accounts with instant opening) and Pay Now (instant payment). It covers offline and e-commerce channels, and industries spanning B2B marketplaces, food and beverage, agriculture, industrial supplies, construction materials, freight and logistics, business travel, automotive and pharma.

On integration it offers 5 surfaces: Hosted Checkout (a hosted page that needs no code), API Reference, Developer Login, a Documentation Centre and a Merchant Dashboard. The combination means a small team can launch on the hosted page, a custom stack can call the API only, and operations manage terms and limits in the merchant back office.

The site also cites a figure: 81% of buyers want a trade account with their main suppliers. That number explains why Trade Account sits at the centre of the product — a business buyer's default expectation is an account that can carry a balance, not re-entering payment details at every checkout. The figure is cited by the provider and its sample and methodology may not be public, so selections should benchmark it against your own new-customer approval rate.

The key to reading Hokodo is knowing where the B2B conversion bottleneck actually is. For most B2B stores it is not a shortage of payment methods but the inability of new customers to get terms: the traditional process needs financial statements, a credit check and days to weeks of approval. Hokodo sells compressing that into an instant decision, with insurance and reinsurance structures carrying the bad debt. It replaces a credit assessment process, not a payment gateway.

Key Strengths

• It targets the real B2B bottleneck: opening terms for a new customer traditionally needs statements, a credit check and days to weeks of approval, which is long enough to lose the order. Instant Trade Account opening collapses that into an online result and shortens the conversion path.
• Term tiers match trade habits: 30/60/90 days are the 3 most common B2B payment nodes, covering everything from fast-moving replenishment to construction project settlement, without customizing periods per industry.
• Clear tiers of integration effort: Hosted Checkout lets merchants with no engineering team go live, API Reference and Developer Login support deep custom builds, and the Merchant Dashboard runs day-to-day operations. Three tiers cover different team sizes.
• Bad debt is carried by insurance and reinsurance structures: the biggest B2B objection is what happens when a customer does not pay. An insurance structure is easier to explain to finance and easier to stress test than a platform merely advancing funds.
• Broad industry coverage: food and beverage, agriculture, industrial supplies, construction materials, freight and logistics, business travel, automotive and pharma all share strong buyers, standard terms and larger order values, where terms are a precondition for closing.
• A bilingual site covers core Western European markets: English and French map to the UK and Western Europe, so cross-border sellers evaluating multi-country rollout can check availability in those language markets directly.

Product Ecosystem

Pay Later (30/60/90 day terms)

The core product. Buyers choose terms at checkout and pay the agreed number of days after delivery, while the merchant settles per contract. Term length, limit and approval conditions follow the buyer's profile.

Trade Account

Makes opening an account that carries a balance an instant online flow. The buyer submits business details and immediately receives a limit and term permission, so later orders need no repeat assessment. This is the core function that separates it from a plain BNPL plugin.

Installments and Pay Now

Installments split a large order across repayment nodes; Pay Now serves buyers who want to settle immediately without terms. Both sit alongside Pay Later so buyers can match their own cash flow.

Hosted Checkout and Merchant Dashboard

Hosted Checkout is a hosted page for merchants without an engineering team or those wanting a quick pilot; the Merchant Dashboard manages limits, terms, orders and reconciliation. Together they form a minimum viable no-code launch plus back-office operations.

API and Developer Resources

API Reference, Developer Login and a Documentation Centre support embedding term capability into custom storefronts, ERPs or B2B platforms. Cross-border merchants should confirm market availability and signing entity first.

Limitations

• The loss bearer and recovery responsibility are the core variables: the value of B2B trade credit depends on how limits are set, who absorbs bad debt and how recovery runs. Without those three answers, a low rate means nothing.
• Business underwriting depends on credit data: newly registered entities, cross-border entities, buyers with incomplete financials and higher-risk industries may not qualify, so the real approval rate will be below expectations.
• Refunds and partial fulfilment complicate term adjustment: B2B orders often ship in batches and return in parts, so reversal of invoiced amounts, term recalculation and bad debt allocation need explicit rules.
• The merchant discount and service fees are genuine costs: B2B margins are thin and rates must be modelled per order. A large order does not imply the margin absorbs a high rate; net margin is the test.
• Dependence on European licensing and compliant entities: signing entity, settlement currency, VAT and invoicing compliance all follow local rules, and cross-border sellers cannot assume one integration covers all of Europe.
• Cited data lacks a full methodology: 81% is a study cited by the provider, with sample, timing and method not fully expanded on the page, so it is directional only.

Use Cases

• B2B e-commerce and wholesale storefronts (★★★★★): buyers demand terms and new-customer approval is the main bottleneck, so instant Trade Account opening improves conversion directly.
• B2B marketplaces (★★★★☆): giving third-party sellers term capability without carrying bad debt yourself, achievable through either Hosted Checkout or the API.
• Food and beverage, agriculture and industrial supplies (★★★★☆): strong buyers, standard terms and high repeat frequency, where 30/60/90 day tiers map neatly to replenishment cycles.
• Construction materials, freight and logistics (★★★☆☆): large order values and long project cycles make terms a precondition, but staged delivery and partial return handling add complexity.
• Mainland China operations (☆☆☆☆☆): domestic consumer credit and loan facilitation are tightly regulated and an overseas BNPL provider cannot serve domestic C-end business. Cross-border B2B terms involve receivables and FX compliance and need separate assessment. Not a valid scenario.
• Small-ticket retail to individual consumers (★☆☆☆☆): the product is built around business buyers and trade accounts, so small high-frequency consumer orders are expensive and mismatched — the worst fit.

Pricing

The table reflects currently published Hokodo information. B2B trade credit pricing is a merchant discount plus service fees plus overdue fees where the contract provides for them; actual rates, term conditions and bad debt responsibility follow the contract and the current official quote. No rate that has not been published by the provider is stated here.

FAQ

• What exactly does it replace?
  A credit assessment process, not a payment gateway. Traditionally a buyer submits statements, a credit check runs and terms are approved over days to weeks; this collapses that into an instant online result. So measure the effect by new-customer approval rate rather than by counting one extra payment method.

• Who absorbs bad debt?
  Insurance and reinsurance structures carry it, but the contract may retain recourse for defined cases such as disputed orders, fraud or amounts above the limit. Get a written list of which cases revert to the merchant and how recovery costs are shared.

• Can the 81% figure be quoted directly?
  It is a study cited by the provider, with sample, timing and method not fully expanded on the page. It works as a directional input, but external materials should go back to the original report, and internal decisions should rely on the change in your own new-customer approval rate.

• Can we launch without an engineering team?
  Yes. Hosted Checkout requires no code, and the Merchant Dashboard manages limits, terms and reconciliation. Custom systems can move to API Reference and Developer Login.

• Can a mainland China company integrate this?
  No. Domestic consumer credit and loan facilitation are tightly regulated and an overseas BNPL provider cannot serve domestic C-end business. Cross-border B2B terms involve receivables and FX compliance and need separate assessment. An overseas entity selling to European buyers must still confirm signing entity, settlement currency and VAT treatment.

Source: original 16IDC content. Product capabilities, supported countries and fee definitions follow the official documentation and your contract.