A new start-up fintech launched by a former credit industry professional aims to get businesses paid within seven days, in an attempt to address late payments.
Debt Register has developed a purpose-built digital platform to resolve debts anything up to 10 times faster than traditional legal action, and for a fraction of the cost.
Two years in the making, the new business sought a digitised solution to the growing problem of late payment which often leads to unnecessary write-offs or costly legal action (but only when the debt is of sufficient value) with little likelihood of success.
Launched with little initial fanfare, Debt Register is already filling a gap in the market, as evidenced by the client base already using the tool including software giant Zendesk, US healthcare distributor Henry Schein and global network infrastructure provider CommScope.
The company says that Debt Register is, first and foremost, a global payment accelerator that enables a Credit Manager to identify late invoices on their ledger and the platform does the rest. Debt Register contacts the debtor automatically and in the appropriate language, requesting that the payment is settled, and ensuring the invoice is correct and not in dispute.
The system leverages its relationships with leading credit reference agencies (CRAs) to report unpaid and overdue debts, debtors are encouraged to settle any overdues promptly to avoid their credit scores being negatively impacted.
The age of the debt appears not to be a barrier to its collectability: in one trial with an international client, payment was received for a 890-day old debt within just 27 hours; in another trial with a different client, 99% of all debts were settled within the trial period.
Gary Brown, Founder of Debt Register, said the product and platform were created out of necessity within the industry: “Credit Managers are cashflow management experts, but overdues continue to be an 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 cash flow.”
“Debt Register is designed to drastically improve payment performance and relieve the pressure on busy credit management teams, allowing them to focus the most important aspect of business, securing future income.”
“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.”
[This article first appeared via Credit-connect.co.uk in September 2021]