We’re a commercial credit bureau helping businesses identify credit risk
From CreditorWatch’s foundation in 2010 as a commercial credit bureau, we’ve strived to disrupt the commercial credit industry and be a champion to all Australian businesses, no matter their size.
Our unique data is the difference that sets us apart and helps our 50,000+ customers better protect themselves from commercial credit risk.
We offer the option of a subscription-based service, eliminating the need to continuously request and pay for credit data on a transactional basis. Unlimited data is available at your fingertips all the time.
Unique SME data that isn’t available anywhere else
Our diverse customer base means we acquire data from more sources, and since 90% of our customers are exclusive to CreditorWatch, this information can’t be supplied by another bureau.
We’re the only commercial credit reporting bureau to gather data from SMEs. 90% of Australia’s economy is made up of small business, and so our biggest source of data is also one of the most valuable for all businesses. If you’re not using CreditorWatch, you’re not getting the whole story.
Small businesses are often the first to not get paid by debtors, as their services aren’t deemed as critical to day-to-day operations than a larger creditor. Their payment trends serve as a warning sign that an entity is experiencing cash flow problems.
CreditorWatch easily integrates with Xero and MYOB (and we’re the only commercial credit bureau to do so), allowing for more streamlined debtor analysis and enriched credit reports for our customers. With this integration, we can pull account receivables data every 5 minutes, making business payment trends and insights incredibly accurate.
This is in addition to the data we extract from our corporate customers’ Aged Trial Balances each month. By combining both data sources, CreditorWatch better understands how and when an entity pays the market.
Payment defaults: warn and be warned
Lodging a payment default on CreditorWatch is a powerful way of recovering an outstanding debt as well as warning our 50,000+ strong community of a poor payer. Again, our large database of small businesses is instrumental in delivering unique data you won’t find anywhere else.
CreditorWatch’s data indicates that smaller creditors lodge payment defaults against businesses up to six months prior to a larger creditor. Positive cash flow and punctual payments are a small business owner’s livelihood, and so they’re much more proactive in chasing their debts.
This works to the advantage of all CreditorWatch customers. Only CreditorWatch customers will know if a business they’re trading with, or are considering trading with, has incurred a default. This unique data helps you make more informed credit decisions and avoid risky debtors altogether.
Credit reports on unincorporated entities – an industry first
CreditorWatch are notorious for disrupting the status quo, and forging an industry-first credit report on unincorporated entities is no exception.
Before CreditorWatch, understanding the risk of unincorporated entities was difficult and inaccurate. The only option was to run a consumer credit check on the individuals associated with the entity, and this required individual consent.
CreditorWatch provides commercial credit reports, business credit scores, payment predictor data and public records on unincorporated entities, including sole traders, partnerships and trusts.
This commercial data is derived from the ABR, AFSA, payment defaults, credit enquiries and receivables data, just to name a few sources. Consumer-related data isn’t required, so neither is asking for consent. This empowers businesses to better assess the commercial entity itself opposed to just the individuals.
Mercantile enquiries and insolvency notices
Over 200 debt collectors around Australia use CreditorWatch to conduct searches on non-paying companies. When they do, they can leave a mercantile enquiry, which alerts our customers that a company they’re monitoring is being chased for an overdue debt.
We’re also the only commercial credit bureau that collects data directly from the ASIC-operated insolvencynotices.asic.gov.au register. As a customer, you’ll receive information about wind-ups, insolvencies and administrations, including the contact details of the administrator.
You’re able to act straight away rather than wait until the administrator to contact you and collect your goods or debt. This allows you to be on the front foot when chasing your payments and this greatly improves your chances of getting your money sooner rather than later.
Business credit monitoring and automated alerts
Credit risk information changes all the time – it’s the nature of the industry. Monitoring your customers is non-negotiable, even in times of economic stability.
You will never miss an important change to a customer’s credit file with CreditorWatch, even if you’re monitoring thousands of debtors at once.
When you monitor a business, you will receive real-time alerts for:
- Entity status changes: administrations, liquidations and deregistrations
- ASIC/ABR changes: documents lodged and changes in directors and shareholders
- Adverse events: court judgments, payment defaults, mercantile enquires and insolvency notices
- Changes to their credit score and payment predictor information
For more information on CreditorWatch’s unique data and to see it applied in real-case scenarios, watch our free webinar, led by CEO Patrick Coghlan.
