APAC and Americas Regions Adapting More Proactive Debt Collections Measures

PR58429

AMSTERDAM, Oct. 30/PRN=KYODO JBN/ --

    The latest Global Collections Review survey conducted by Atradius

Collections reveals that companies in the APAC and the Americas regions seem to

be more proactive than their European counterparts in recovering payments.

Almost 50% of the companies surveyed are partnering with professional debt

collections agencies.

    South American and Chinese companies in particular suffer from limited

financing facilities. International and domestic companies in these regions are

starting to face substantial payment problems, which is reflected in the way

they handle overdue invoices. The use of debt collection agencies is higher in

the Americas (46%) and APAC (47%) than in Europe where 30% of the respondents

have chosen this option in the last 12 months. In the US (54%), China (52%) and

Taiwan (57%) it is common to employ a debt collection agency. Additionally, the

debt collections market is evolving most rapidly in the Americas region, where

an increase of almost 13% is observed compared to last year. This underlines the

importance of cooperating with external debt collection agencies in the region.

    In Asia Pacific, companies appear to be more proactive in trying to recover

their money and are willing to use a variety of methods to achieve results.

European companies are more conservative and cautious when it comes to

outsourcing collection of first party invoices. However companies in the APAC

region appear more aligned with companies in the Americas, when it comes to

using first party collections services. Almost 60% of the interviewed companies

in this region have claimed to be (highly) likely to adopt this service during

the next two years. This shows their willingness to begin pursuing payment

earlier, before starting the traditional debt collections procedures. Raymond

van der Loos, Managing Director Atradius Collections, observed: "The economic

climate in both the South American and Asian markets have started to

deteriorate. Payment morale has weakened and insolvency risk has increased. To

improve collection success, companies are implementing stronger credit

management measures and outsourcing their debt collection efforts to an expert

who supports them in recovering outstanding balances and prevents unnecessary

write offs."

    Worst payers are domestic customers

    Across the world, the worst payers are typically domestic customers,

irrespective of business size and industry. Companies in the APAC region are

more active in recovering late payments from their international buyers, even

though they also have a high percentage of domestic cases to collect. Raymond

van der Loos observes: "The practice of delaying payments as a means of

financing operations is problematic in all countries. Atradius Collections'

strategy has been to expand the global network into the South American and

Asian markets to be able to help its customers, at a local level, recover

payments, whether the debt is domestic or international."

    About the Global Collections Review

    The Global Collections Review is based on a survey of almost 6000 companies

across 30 countries in the APAC, Americas and European regions and assesses

business requirements for outsourcing business-to-business collections

services. The detailed insights can help companies create country and industry

focused strategies on how to deal with overdue invoices.

    The overall report Global Collections Review and the country reports are

available at

http://www.atradiuscollections.com/global/updates-publications/global-collections-review.html

    About Atradius Collections

    Atradius Collections, a business unit of Atradius Group, provides

efficient, quick and flexible solutions to recover domestic and international

trade debts. With 20 offices and an extensive network of collections

specialists and lawyers worldwide, Atradius Collections serves more than 14,500

customers. Over 85 years of global credit management industry experience

uniquely positions Atradius Collections as a worldwide leader in

business-to-business trade invoice collections services.

    http://www.atradiuscollections.com

    http://www.linkedin.com/company/atradius-collections

    http://www.twitter.com/AtradiusCollect

    Further information:

    Iris Graatsma

    Email: Iris.Graatsma@atradius.com

    Telephone: +31-20-553-3139

    SOURCE: Atradius N.V.