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Some are even trying to use new technology to put factoring into the hands of one another via peer-to-peer (or P2P) factoring platforms. But have these efforts been successful? Despite the rise of these decentralised platforms in the credit industry, it\u2019s interesting to note that they haven’t succeeded in taking over factoring- despite numerous attempts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important first to note one of the main reasons why P2P is so popular – it brings supply and demand together. Investors can lend money directly to consumers or businesses and poof! No more middle man… or so the story goes.<\/p>\n
However, in real life, a peer-to-peer platform can only exist if there\u2019s a financial reward – an additional middle layer – for bringing supply and demand together. But the fact is, factoring margins are so competitive that they can\u2019t support that extra layer, even if that layer makes it easier for supply and demand to meet. There\u2019s simply not enough margin to split.<\/p>\n
To illustrate how difficult this is, there was a recent platform in the P2P space that was trying to scale\u00a0<\/span>with a negative gross margin<\/em>! The customer lifetime value was negative from high front-end cost, with the customer retention quite low. This will almost always result in a customer that completes the boarding process only to factor a few invoices to meet an immediate need, then never returning to the platform. Examples like these show how many of these P2P factoring platforms just can\u2019t sustainably produce a meaningful profit.<\/p>\n When you look closer, there\u2019s a clear connection between customers that don\u2019t continue to factor with these platforms and the high cost associated with P2P lending. Why can\u2019t P2P lending be cheaper? One reason is because of the high-perceived risk. Investors are aware of the risk of factoring with these platforms, and so they ask for 10 to 15 percent per annum rates. After adding platform fees, this makes the overall financing cost very expensive for the customers.<\/p>\n Is there a solution to the high cost of lending? Sometimes lending platforms with larger volumes can bring in institutional money to lower the average cost of capital.\u00a0<\/span>But<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>even then,<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>the capital cost is rarely less than 10% per annum. It still just doesn\u2019t work well.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s actually driving these P2P platforms? Most of them spend a lot of money on digital marketing, driving a large amount of customer interest to their platforms – but this only converts less than 10% of the total inquiries. This \u201cshotgun\u201d approach leads to more than 90% of applicants being rejected, which is much more expensive than working through the traditional broker networks or direct sales. So very often, those few remaining prospects who actually become customers don\u2019t provide a return on investment – again, they simply solve their immediate cash flow problem with expensive financing and leave after factoring one or two invoices.<\/p>\n And while this cost in marketing is usually the most significant part of the price paid for customer acquisition, don\u2019t forget that this cost is in addition to the cost associated with managing invoice funders, further driving up the price to service customers with factoring services.<\/p>\n For P2P platforms trying to serve as a matchmaking service, there just simply is not enough margin-left in the value chain. After reviewing all that\u2019s required – how they need to make factoring affordable for regular businesses, make the peer-to-peer factoring platforms financially viable and, of course, they need to keep the investors in the platforms happy – it all adds up to an unsustainable business, no matter how it might be advertised.<\/p>\n And yet, that\u2019s not P2P factoring\u2019s only challenge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While factoring is a new and exciting way for many to finance their business, it is by no means a new way to finance. Factoring has actually been around for hundreds of years. And just like any other form of financing, it has been subject to fraud – which our technological age hasn\u2019t helped.<\/p>\n After all, digital peer-to-peer platforms by definition, are more anonymous and therefore more susceptible to fraud. Any provider of factoring services must be cautious with client onboarding, and for a good reason – there are even numerous examples where people hired actors to pretend they were employees of a non-existent business. After these fake entrepreneurs convinced the factoring company to take over their invoices (and pay 90 percent of the amount upfront) they suddenly vanished.<\/p>\n Truly, fraud is a very serious risk. This makes it essential for\u00a0<\/span>any<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>factoring company to take a balanced approach to business, such as using credit-risk tools, multiple data points for verification as well as employing experienced professionals that know the factoring business.<\/p>\n However, experienced professionals don\u2019t just aid in fraud protection. At Factris, we believe in building relationships with our customers, which creates a huge advantage over P2P platforms.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Automation is often maligned for creating a lack of personal interaction, so, ironically, technological advancements have actually led to an\u00a0<\/span>increased<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>focus on customer service, improving their experience with Factris. How?<\/p>\n It’s pretty simple: we use technology, not to make our teamwork faster or harder, but happier and better. In fact, Factris\u2019 business model is based on the premise that we should automate what we can; after all, why waste staff hours on tasks that computers can do more efficiently? That would benefit neither Factris nor our customers.<\/p>\n So what is the connection between technology and improved customer interactions? Automation enables our team to focus their energy and abilities on people – building relationships and providing real value to our customers. After all, factoring is a local business that\u2019s built on relationships with trust at its foundation. We never let automation lead to losing contact with our clients. We believe it’s essential for entrepreneurs to know the people behind the factoring company that has daily contact with their clients for invoice matters – one more thing that P2P factoring platforms lack.<\/p>\n After a closer look, it’s evident that all three reasons mentioned above are intertwined. We take advantage of technology and innovation while maintaining a personal approach to factoring that allows us to offer competitive pricing while staying profitable. We aim for long-term, close and strong relationships with our clients – something P2P factoring platforms just can\u2019t achieve.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”700px” custom_padding=”2px||4px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_button button_url=”\/en\/news\/” button_text=”Back to the news page ” module_class=”btn-back” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#001194″ button_bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” button_font=”||||on||||” button_icon=”#||divi||400″ button_icon_placement=”left” button_on_hover=”off” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off|hover” custom_padding__hover_enabled=”off|desktop” custom_padding__hover=”|||59px|false|false” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.6″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#000A54″ custom_padding=”20vh||20vh||true|false” global_module=”2087″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font_size=”46px” header_line_height=”2em” header_2_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”2em” header_3_font=”|700|||||||” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font_size=”25px” header_font_tablet=”” header_font_phone=”” header_font_last_edited=”on|desktop” header_line_height_tablet=”1.8em” header_line_height_phone=”1.4em” header_line_height_last_edited=”on|phone” header_2_font_size_tablet=”” header_2_font_size_phone=”32px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” header_3_font_tablet=”” header_3_font_phone=”” header_3_font_last_edited=”on|phone” header_3_line_height_tablet=”” header_3_line_height_phone=”1.8em” header_3_line_height_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.factris.com\/en\/eligibility\/” button_text=”See if I qualify” button_alignment=”center” module_class=”btn-tertiary-2″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” button_font=”||||on||||” button_icon=”$||divi||400″ button_icon_color=”#ffffff” button_on_hover=”off” custom_margin=”||20px|||” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_button][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/onboarding.factris.com\/en\/sign-up” button_text=”Finance my invoices” button_alignment=”center” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” button_icon=”$||divi||400″ button_icon_color=”#353540″ button_on_hover=”off” custom_margin=”||18px|||” custom_padding=”10px|40px|10px|25px|true|false” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover_enabled=”on|hover” custom_padding__hover=”|50px|||true|false”][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Call a taxi, order dinner, pay your bills – all from the computer on your lap or the smartphone in our hand. Without question, we’re using new technology more and more to accomplish everyday tasks. Some are even trying to use new technology to put factoring into the hands of one another via peer-to-peer (or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n Advisory board<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Brian Reaves <\/strong>Chief Executive Officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n Serial entrepreneur and investor in the mobile and payments space. Brian was involved in building 21 prior businesses including 15 mobile networks and 4 payment companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam Posma <\/strong>Founder and Chief Product Officer of ClubCollect<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam founded ClubCollect in 2013 - a provider of membership fee collection services for sports clubs. He started his career in wealth management at BNP Paribas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Tom F. Lesche <\/strong>Principal at Speedinvest<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom started his career in investment banking. Most recently, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley in London, advising financial technology companies on a variety of capital markets and M&A transactions. At Speedinvest, he solely focuses on investments in European fintech companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donatas Juodelis <\/strong>Founder of Debifo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donatas started his career as a lawyer but quickly moved to entrepreneurship and investments. Co-founded IT company INNTEC, co-founded factoring company Debifo and a couple of other successful startups. In most of the companies, Donatas was responsible for business and corporate development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faisal Hakki <\/strong>Managing director at AB Ventures<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faisal is Managing Director at AB Ventures, the FinTech focused, early-stage Venture Capital arm of Arab Bank. Prior to joining AB Ventures, Faisal was CEO at Oasis500 \u2013 the leading seed-stage investment fund and accelerator in Jordan. Faisal has also held senior positions at Accelerator Technology Holdings, Arab Advisors Group and Fastlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brian Reaves <\/strong>Chief Executive Officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n Serial entrepreneur and investor in the mobile and payments space. Brian was involved in building 21 prior businesses including 15 mobile networks and 4 payment companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam Posma <\/strong>Founder and Chief Product Officer of ClubCollect<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam founded ClubCollect in 2013 - a provider of membership fee collection services for sports clubs. He started his career in wealth management at BNP Paribas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Tom F. Lesche <\/strong>Principal at Speedinvest<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom started his career in investment banking. Most recently, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley in London, advising financial technology companies on a variety of capital markets and M&A transactions. At Speedinvest, he solely focuses on investments in European fintech companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donatas Juodelis <\/strong>Founder of Debifo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donatas started his career as a lawyer but quickly moved to entrepreneurship and investments. Co-founded IT company INNTEC, co-founded factoring company Debifo and a couple of other successful startups. In most of the companies, Donatas was responsible for business and corporate development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faisal Hakki <\/strong>Managing director at AB Ventures<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faisal is Managing Director at AB Ventures, the FinTech focused, early-stage Venture Capital arm of Arab Bank. Prior to joining AB Ventures, Faisal was CEO at Oasis500 \u2013 the leading seed-stage investment fund and accelerator in Jordan. Faisal has also held senior positions at Accelerator Technology Holdings, Arab Advisors Group and Fastlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"2880","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n2. Anonymity stimulates fraud<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Factoring is a relationship business<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Focus on telling your business story<\/h2>\n
Trade your invoices for working capital by factoring<\/h3>\n