Introduction
Although credit insurance has been available in the U.S. for more than 100 years, companies have traditionally traded on letters of credit, asked for payment in advance, used factors to offset the risk of export accounts receivable or simply traded on more risky open terms.
Exporting by U.S.-based companies used to be dominated by multi-nationals with on-site credit capabilities. Today, small- and medium-sized firms account for about 97 per cent of U.S. merchandise exporters. As a group, however, they account for less than one-third of total U.S. export value. The majority of these firms previously only traded in the U.S. and had access to good accounting and credit information for new business prospects.