UK SMEs risk going out of business due late payments

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SmartDebit

By using Direct Debit, companies can reduce the risk of debt by establishing automatic payments. This allows quick, reliable and secure funds transfers and leaves no need to chase up overdue invoices.

(PRWEB UK) 18 October 2012

British small and medium-sized businesses are currently are threat due to late payments. The number of SMEs dealing with late payments is closing in on totalling one million, with the total collective debt almost £36.4bn. SMEs across the UK have been feeling the effects of non-efficient payment from customers, with 35 per cent stating that late payment debts of just £20,000 would be enough to put them out of business, according to Bacs Payment Schemes Ltd.

The new research from Bacs was carried out in July and involved 478 SMEs. Results showed that six out of ten British businesses experience late payments. The period the average business has to wait to settle an invoice now stands at 46.4 days beyond the initial agreed payment terms, with northern business having to wait even longer – an average delay of 46.8 days.

A spokesperson from SmartDebit commented “The recent report shows that there is a clear issue with late payments in the UK, especially to small and medium-sized businesses. By using Direct Debit, companies can reduce the risk of debt by establishing automatic payments. This allows quick, reliable and secure funds transfers and leaves no need to chase up overdue invoices.”

SmartDebit hope that the recent report will encourage small and medium businesses to combat the issue of late payments by using resources available on the market.

SmartDebit are the UK’s leading Direct Debit Bureau, specialising in payment processing services since 1998. A Bacs approved Bureau, scoring ‘Excellent’ in all five categories of the Bacs audit, and ISO 27001 compliant. Providing a complete range of services: Outsourcing; SmartDebit-Admin cloud based portal; SmartDebit-Online payer sign up; SmartDebit-API integrated solution and SmartDebit-Contingency.

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