Not enough small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are using debtor finance to improve cash flows and grow their businesses, according to Nick Hough, an executive at Sasfin's debtor-finance business unit.
Hough said last week that the factoring industry was not getting the message across to the right people about the benefits of debtor finance. The industry would now be targeting opinion leaders such as auditors, accountants and business consultants to help educate businesses.
RSA is still far behind the rest of the world in terms of factoring turnover. Statistics published by Factors Chain International (FCI) show SA's turnover was about Ђ5.5bn compared with the UK's a Ђ139bn (2001).
Richard Smith, First National Bank’s (FNB) regional executive in debtor finance for Gauteng, said it was difficult to raise working capital without debtor-finance in today's financial climate.
