Tag: insurance

ARCHOVER RAISES THE BAR FOR P2P LENDER SECURITY WITH EXTENDED 3 YEAR CREDIT INSURANCE AGREEMENT

Author
Ashlee Dutton
Date

ArchOver, the premier P2P business lending platform which successfully completed its second year in business in September with no borrower defaults, late payments or losses, has extended its exclusive partnership with international credit insurer and collections company Coface by a further three years.

The deal will enable ArchOver to maintain what is widely recognised within the industry as the highest standards of initial and ongoing due diligence and to provide continuous protection to all its lenders through the use of £100m of borrower turnover cover.

Commenting on the new arrangement, Ian Anderson, ArchOver’s Chief Operating Office, said: “The credit insurance element is central to our unique ‘Secured and Insured’ business model. We began our partnership with Coface a year ago because we identified the need to offer our lenders insurance cover and to bring a distinctive element to our offering which has allowed us to stand out in a sector that is heavily criticised for lax security and monitoring. The agreement has contributed to our ability to complete two years of operations without a single bad debt, late payment or default.”

“Building a relationship with a long-standing organisation such as Coface only complements our offering and we look forward to continuing to offer our lenders this type of protection. It will enable us to scale the business and expand our offering to borrowers who do business outside the UK.”

“Coface is a world leader in credit insurance, operating in 100 countries with over 40,000 clients and holding key financial data on 67 million companies worldwide. It is a true global giant with an acknowledged expertise in international trade risk. Coface is the perfect partner for our future expansion plans.”

Frédéric Bourgeois, Managing Director of Coface in the UK & Ireland, added: “The partnership between ArchOver and Coface goes from strength to strength and fits perfectly with our own corporate objectives. ArchOver’s business model demonstrates that, after our first year of operation, it is possible to protect lenders without compromising competitive edge. We are very much looking forward to the next stage of our collaboration.”

 

ENDS

 

Coface

 

  1. With its headquarters in France, Coface is a trade risk expert and a world leader in credit insurance. The company employs over 4,500 staff across 100 countries, including the UK.
  2. Coface has 40,000 client companies domiciled in over 200 countries around the world.
  3. Coface constantly reviews 2.5 million debtors for which it is at risk. It holds detailed information on 67 million companies worldwide.
  4. Coface conducts Global Credit Insurance underwriting through 660 risk underwriters and credit analysts.
  5. Coface had an annual turnover of Euros 1,490 million in 2015. Its client retention rate was over 88 percent in 2015.
  6. Coface is the number one credit insurer in South America and the Asia-Pacific region (excluding export credit agencies). It is ranked number two in France, Germany and North America and ranks third largest in the UK.

Why more small businesses should take out Credit Insurance

Author
Angus Dent
Date

Trade Credit Insurance has become an increasingly important part of many businesses’ risk management strategies since it was first developed at the close of the nineteenth century. The sector has grown significantly during this time, as more and more companies have taken up the service, and three main providers have now emerged – Euler Hermes, Atradius and Coface – all of whom focus primarily on Europe, which remains the single largest trade credit insurance market.

But despite the penetration that credit insurance has achieved in Europe as a whole, a 2013 report by the consultancy firm Bain & Company found that only 10-20% of the continent’s SMEs currently utilise this business tool.

credit-insurance-1I believe this to be a real missed opportunity for many small businesses.

The main benefit of Credit Insurance is self-evident: it protects companies from the risk of non-payment by their clients for goods and services that have been provided. The insurer Euler Hermes has calculated that a business’ debtors will often account for up to 40% of its Current Assets and they make the point – borne out by the above statistic – that whilst businesses routinely insure other assets such as their property, this large asset often remains exposed.

Non-payment of a large invoice can cause real damage to SMEs. In fact, nearly a fifth of companies that fail doing so due to bad debt or a lack of working capital. £50k of bad debt to a small business with a 4% profit margin would necessitate an extra £1.25m in sales to compensate for the loss. For any business, let alone an SME, this is clearly a risk worth mitigating.

Taking out Credit Insurance can offer more subtle benefits too. Policies often provide businesses with current and accurate information on their customers, for example, allowing them to judge their financial security. More, taking out credit insurance acts to lower the risk for providers of finance, allowing businesses to borrow at lower rates of interest than would otherwise be possible.

In the current economic climate, improved borrowing opportunities combined with debtor book security is surely too good an offer to pass up.