Factris Report: European SMEs Shift Financing Methods

New financing solutions are changing how small and medium-sized enterprises do business throughout Europe, as shown by the 2019 year-end results from the fintech company, Factris.

The results from the Netherlands-based company revealed a sharp increase in alternative-financing activity in 2019, as well as a change in what those customers could achieve by financing their invoices via factoring.

Factris reported more than 3,000 invoices factored per month, surpassing a total volume of €250MM by the end of 2019. With so many SMEs using different forms of financing—particularly factoring—it's clear that a shift has occurred in how SMEs are choosing to finance their businesses.

"Part of this shift in SME financing is due to the speed that factoring takes place compared with financing from banks," explains Brian Reaves, Factris' CEO. "When an SME needs financing because their customer hasn't paid an invoice yet, Factris purchases that unpaid invoice on the same day from the SME, providing them cashflow to use however they need. Thus, payments can be made earlier, allowing the SME to negotiate a discount on purchases."

The results also showed that SMEs used factoring in a variety of ways. For instance, some SMEs used factoring for growth within their company—for example, factoring seasonally to pay their fruit pickers. And factoring wasn't just limited to one type of business, as revealed by the top three sectors that factored with Factris — transportation, wholesale trade and manufacturing.

Invoices that were factored also varied immensely, from a few hundred euros up to €650.000. This demonstrates that both large and small SMEs chose factoring for their financing needs in 2019.

Continues Reaves, "The quick, easy capital from factoring invoices has presented new opportunities for SMEs across the EU, empowering them to do more than what was previously possible."