5 crucial Credit- & Risk Management trends in 2021

Measure and analyse customer expectations for the next 3 to 5 years. Determine how critical the speed-to- market will be for them and for the industry. Choose company data, technologies, networks & partnerships to support a more flexible, global network.

Creditsafe can support you to deliver this 'business intelligence' using financial business data on more than 330 million companies in 160 countries. Thanks to our global network of 23 offices in 15 countries on 3 continents, our worldwide presence enables us to offer a world-leading service with expertise at local level. - Because we help companies change the way they do business.

These companies automate data in their business workflows and decisions, leading to improved productivity, reduced operational costs, increased profits and a more consistent policy application.

The tumultuous economic ecosystem has wreaked havoc on many companies and is testing their financial strength and flexibility. This means stressed financial accounts, limited liquidity and late payments. Companies will have to adapt to varying credit terms, uncertain DBT (= Day Beyond Terms) and creative payment structures.

Credit management is important to give the entire organisation of the company the necessary stability, dynamism, flexibility and breathing space in times of turmoil.  In order to make a risk assessment of your business relations, financial business information is an important (management) element in the business continuity of your organisation. Therefore, start with a full screening of your entire customer and supplier portfolio, to find out where (potential) credit risks lie. In times of turmoil and uncertainty, it is even more important to check EVERY new and existing business relation for their creditworthiness.

To provide our customers with even more up-to-date and predictive power, we continue to develop one of the most predictive business scorecards in our industry. With decades of experience, our International Analytics Team has developed, tested and validated new scorecards that calculates with certainty the probability of business failure at the highest level of accuracy yet.

By the way, have you heard about our COVID-19 impact assessment?
CFOs, credit managers and other finance (and risk) professionals can use this data to quickly identify risk areas within their portfolios. The 'Impact Indicator' differs from Creditsafe's usual credit score, which predicts the probability of bankruptcy or insolvency in the next 12 months, and as such should be used as an additional guidance indicator in these difficult times.

Creditsafe will also focus on more training and solutions in digital practice in 2021. Therefore we will organise monthly webinars for our customers so that you are immediately up to date with the latest news and so that you can optimally use your solutions in practice (even on a fully personalised level).

It is our goal to help you move forward in achieving your goals.

Of course, it has always been important to know who you are doing business with. This year, however, companies expect to need more time, energy and effort to get to know their customers effectively, how they work, who they are and where mutual expectations lie.

More and more companies are realising that a sincere and honest policy is becoming indispensable, and certainly in the current economic climate, as teleworking has become the new norm and physical appointments with your (new) business partner are in decline or even impossible due to the current rules and procedures. Companies are therefore opting more and more for digitalisation and automation because of this pandemic, which is changing the fraud landscape. Working from home and doing business online are the underlying factors because it creates the opportunity for greater C-level fraud, phishing and doing business with ghost companies.

In moments of turmoil, we must be able to rely on the strategy and risk management measures taken.
Therefore, we briefly mention again the most important elements to be able to show the necessary resilience in times of turmoil or crisis, to remain stable as a company and to continue to grow in a sustainable way:

These crucial elements of risk management contribute to business continuity, stability and sustainable growth for you and your organisation.

For many organisations, 2020 was the start of a new way of working and therefore our organisation fits into your puzzle: Creditsafe supports you in changing the way you and your company do business.