APAC and Americas Regions Adapting More Proactive Debt Collections Measures

Amsterdam (ots/PRNewswire) -

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/glo
bal-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

ots Originaltext: Atradius N.V.
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