Types of Services

The main services are described below using 'traditional' industry terminology which the majority of factors and invoice discounters use, and in any event, will all recognise. It should be noted that services differ slightly between invoice financiers. Services provided by factors are many and varied. The basic ingredients for these services are as follows:

With or without bad debt protection (recourse or non-recourse);
With or without disclosure to customers (non-confidential or confidential);
Where collection of debts is undertaken by the factor or by the client on behalf of the factor;
Agreements which provide for the assignment of all debts as they arise (whole turnover) or which provide for each debt to be offered to the factor (facultative).

The situation is further complicated by inconsistency in the labeling used by factors for their various types of services.

In recognition of the difficulty that many businesses encounter with much of the terminology surrounding receivables finance, some factors are now avoiding the use of the terms 'factoring' and 'invoice discounting' and prefer invoice finance. Please refer to our glossary for more detail.

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