CM September 2021

“Small businesses can
take action to reduce
late payment volumes
by invoicing correctly
and on time and
adhering to any specific
requirements their
customers may have."
£4.4bn (24 percent) with the public sector
at £3.1bn, or 17 percent. Dougie Belmore,
Pay.UK’s Chief Payments Officer says
that 2020 brought many challenges:
“Notwithstanding the challenges of
COVID, I find it disquieting that more than
half of the country’s smaller companies
are struggling with late payments.
Right now, there are more ways than
ever to settle a bill and I’d encourage
any business dealing with overdue
invoices to make payment as easy
as possible. Offering a choice of
payment options or dates, or
moving to automated collection
with Direct Debit, could help to
remove perceived barriers,
and may go some way to
helping overcome the
problem.”
Sue Chapple FCICM,
Chief Executive
of the CICM, says
that late payment
issue regardless of skill and experience.
Whereas some resort to the courts, legal
action is time-consuming and costly, and
outcomes are difficult to predict. “Debt
Register not only accelerates the payment
of outstanding invoices, but also avoids the
unpleasantness of legal action and brings
greater certainty and predictability to a
credit manager’s cashflow.”
Gary says the new platform
complements the credit management
team, it doesn’t replace them: “Debt
Register is designed to drastically improve
payment performance and relieve the
pressure on busy credit management
teams, allowing them to focus on the most
important aspect of business, securing
future income.”
Along with shortening the timeframe
of remittance, Debt Register provides a
series of tools to credit managers including
auto-translation for use within multiple
territories. The system is intelligent, to
recognise different time zones, working
days and cultural nuances including
national holidays
NEWS ROUNDUP
cannot be put solely at the foot of larger
corporates: “Certainly the feedback we
are receiving from members, many
of whom hold senior roles in major
PLCs, is that they are taking significant
steps to protect their supply chain,
and some are even insisting on paying
supplier invoices within 14 days or
less, regardless of longer terms and
conditions.
“Small businesses can take action
to reduce late payment volumes by
invoicing correctly and on time and
adhering to any specific requirements
their customers may have (e.g. a
Purchase Order number) to ensure they
do not fall foul of a simple process or
risk their invoice being in dispute. They
can also look at simple techniques such
as offering small discounts for early
settlement.
“Whereas there are, of course, many
businesses who are wanting to pay late
– partly because they, in turn, are trying
to manage their own cash position –
there are many more who value their
supplier relationships. Agreeing terms
and conditions from the outset, and
employing professional credit
management best practice, can
make all the difference in getting
paid and keeping the cash
flowing.”
Sue Chapple FCICM
CEO of the CICM
or religious festivals, and times the
despatch of any communications
accordingly. “It’s a very clever system
that recognises a debt in Dubai, for
example, and will not, therefore, send any
correspondence on a Friday which is not a
working day.”
For smaller businesses, Debt Register
provides a lifetime free credit service
allowing them to load and collect up to five
free debts a year.
The platform has also been designed
to streamline the payment process for
the debtor with a specially designed
portal providing three points of payment
resolution as well as a series of tools
including messaging services and
payment acknowledgement tools.
Debt Register is available globally and
designed to suit any business regardless
of industry and offers a series of free trial
options and tailored pricing, utilising a
license-based model rather than charging
per user seat.
For a free demonstration, please visit:
www.debtregister.com
>NEWS
IN BRIEF
CICM team goes to top
of the marketing class
TWO members of the CICM
headquarters’ marketing team have
achieved Associate of Chartered
Institute of Marketing (ACIM) status
Becki Sharpe, Marketing Manager
at the CICM and Zoe Pope, her Digital
Communications Specialist, have both
taken the first significant step on the
marketing qualifications ladder, and
will use their skills not only to support
their own individual careers, but also
to support the growth and future vision
of World's largest membership body for
credit management professionals.
“Being a part of your professional
body is essential to ensuring you
remain relevant and have the training
and support you need to succeed in
your career,” Becki says. Zoe agrees:
“I’ve always wanted to be a part of
CIM, and this year finally felt like the
right time to submit my application
to become a member. The CIM offers
me the chance to keeping abreast and
develop my knowledge and skills in an
ever-growing and changing marketing
industry.”
Sue Chapple, FCICM Chief Executive
of the CICM, congratulated the team
on their new qualifications: “As a
membership body we fully endorse
the learning and development of our
own people, and use their specialist
knowledge and expertise to support
our CICM members.”
NewDay new card
NEWDAY, a leading UK provider
of accessible credit, has launched
Bip which it describes as the first
completely cardless consumer credit
proposition in the UK. Bip is said to
offer a fully digital credit experience
that is simple to use, fully transparent
on costs and with the customer in
complete control. With no physical
card, Bip customers can apply and have
access to appropriate credit within
minutes. Bip is available via the App
Store and Google Play – and can be
added to the digital wallet of the user’s
mobile phone. Just like a traditional
card, it can be used anywhere
Mastercard® is accepted when making
contactless or online payments.
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / September 2021 / PAGE 7