John Bills of the Institute for Factors and Discounters of Australia and New Zealand presents the latest analysis of the Australian market

Statistics on the factoring and discounting market in Australia have been collected since the establishment of the IFD in 1994. In the seven years from 1994-2001 industry turnover has increased from a little over A$2bn to more than A$13bn per annum, and over the same period the number of IFD members has increased from 7 to 21. The industry has existed for many years in Australia; but clearly it is in the last six to seven years that it has undergone major growth and over this time has been one of the most dynamic sectors within the Australian financial system. To put this recent growth in some perspective, the increase in total business volumes in 2000 was actually greater than the total business volume in 1994. This is a remarkable development of the market over the space of only six years.