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When you extend credit to a customer, existing or new, you are taking on credit risk at your business. You are trusting that this customer will pay the amount they owe on the agreed date. But, the unfortunate truth is that globally, 48% of all invoices issued in a given month will be paid late (Xero and Paypal).
Not knowing whether or when a customer will pay you impacts your cash flow and can stifle your business’ growth. In fact, 89% of SMB finance leaders believe these late payments are preventing their business growth (QuickBooks).
However, with the right insights, you can make more accurate assumptions about your customers' payment behaviours, adapt your credit management approach accordingly, and reduce your business’ credit risk.
Chaser now provides credit checking and monitoring functionality, so you can check existing or potential customers and receive instant updates if their situation changes - helping you reduce credit risk and improve your business’ cash flow
Credit checking is essentially your business’ first line of defence when it comes to avoiding bad debtors. A business credit check looks into the financial history of your prospective or current customer and highlights any potential red flags in their credit history and payment behaviour.
By credit checking customers you can assess any potential risk before doing business with them, or before agreeing to repeat contracts with existing customers.
Additionally, by monitoring changes in your customers’ credit report on an ongoing basis, you will be in the know about any changes that might impact your customers’ ability to pay and take action accordingly.
To see the key benefits and capabilities of credit checking in Chaser and the three-step process on how to access your credit report, download our credit checking fact sheet.
Please note this feature is currently only available for credit checking businesses in the UK. However we will be developing and expanding credit checking features based on our user's feedback. If you would like to use credit checking in a non-UK territory, please let us know.
The credit checking functionality has been expanded since the initial launch of credit checking within Chaser in August 2021, and now includes enhanced functionality including the addition of credit monitoring.
What does this mean for users?
Reduce credit risk
Better understand the financial and business situation of your potential customers, so you can make more informed decisions on who to extend credit to and avoid those with poor payment behaviour, or customers that are unlikely to pay.
Stay up to date
Receive ongoing updates for any changes to your customers’ credit report instantly such as their credit score, recommended credit limit, and payment score - so you can stay up to date and adapt your approach accordingly.
Improve your credit management
Adapt your credit management based on your customers’ credit report information and updates received. For example, alter credit limits, payment terms, or enforce partial payments upfront if a customer becomes higher risk.
Save time
Access credit checking and monitoring in the same system as all of your accounts receivables management tools, so you can manage your end-to-end process in one system and reduce time spent going between tools.
Protect your cash flow
Receive alerts on any changes to your customers’ financial health, so you know in advance if they could become a late payment risk and can take preventative action, such as introducing payment instalment plans or late payment fees.
How can you start using credit checking?
Visit the credit checking help centre article for full information on how the feature works, limitations and FAQs.
1) Create a Chaser accountStart using Chaser for free (no card details required) for 14 days at chaserhq.com/signup
2) Credit check an existing customer
In your Chaser account, navigate to ‘Receivables’ then to the customer page for the customer you wish to purchase the report for. Select ‘Get credit report’. The search will return matches for your customer search. Find the appropriate report and select ‘Get credit report’. This report will now be linked with the customer and monitoring will be enabled.
3) Credit check a prospective customer
Navigate to the ‘Credit check’ tab then search for the company you want to check then press ‘Get credit report’. For prospective customers, monitoring will not automatically be enabled. If your prospect becomes a customer and you would like to enable monitoring, please link the report to the customer via the customer page once the customer is available in Chaser.
4) Monitor changes
In the ‘Credit checking’ area, navigate to ‘Monitoring’ where you can see a table of all updates to your customer credit reports in a calendar view.
Credit checking means your business can make more informed decisions on who to extend credit to and have better protection from customers with poor payment behaviour, by using real-time insights and credit management suggestions.
Credit monitoring and checking within Chaser allows users to save time switching between multiple systems when managing their accounts receivables, have all the information they need when making credit management decisions in one place, and ultimately helps them to avoid late payments and protect cash flow.
This is another step toward Chaser's mission to help businesses worldwide get paid in an efficient and friendly way so they improve cash flow. See full capabilities and benefits in the credit checking fact sheet.
