Business monitoring software up 300%, says Equifax

Neil Munroe, external affairs director for Equifax, believes the extraordinary rise demonstrates that businesses have switched on to the importance of staying up to date, to protect cash flow and safeguard against bad debt. "It's very encouraging to see businesses taking positive steps to stay on top of the financial status of customers and suppliers with our monitoring tools," he says. "Rigorous credit checks are also crucial to help businesses protect cash flow and guard against bad debt. They are essential when taking on new customers," he adds. Equifax has also seen a near 200% increase in alerts for gazette and detrimental information – indicating a court or other negative action against a company. And Munroe also cites credit information – providing insight into the people behind non-limited businesses – as being on the rise. "In times when new credit is difficult to come by and banks are reducing or even recalling debts, there may be a temptation to cut spending on basic processes and disciplines. But when times are tough cutting back on checks could be a false economy," warns Munroe.