Text Box: EDITORIAL: By Torkel Holt Free online business and credit information BCN intervjued a number of small, medium and major BI players in regards to free busines and credit information. The subject was described as sensitive and for some, seen as a kick in the ”behind” to this traditional and conservative industry. Nevertheless, the overall feel could be summed up in three statements It will take a while for it to be trusted and commonly used. * Limited value when there is no credit rating combined. Rating is subject to human Interaction, and will always have a cost. Automatic credit rating based upon the general numbers and incidents are easy to set up as a web service but will lack thrust amongst the big industry customers. This was the general view, but underhand they all looked at various ways of meeting the challenge. Complexity in ownership makes for difficult rating. After Enron, financial commentators is baffled over a new trend in cooperative ownership structures that secures diversified power and influence, but makes it less transparent for the public. Company solidity is synonymous with it’s owners and they might all be in different financial state. This makes for a difficult rating and credit reports must be handled with caution. Text Box: Free credit information expected in the UK I have been in the credit industry for 37 years now and have been through the changes from the early days until now. When I started there was a local Dun & Bradstreet office where you could telephone for a report however most people used their Registers as the main source of credit ratings. In later years there was an innovative telephone system using the keypad to acquire information and ratings. Obviously the introduction of computers and internet have made everything more effective and accessible. The number of information vendors have also increased dramatically. In the UK we have not seen free vendors yet, but I am sure they will come. I actually shudder with fear, when I hear about FREE automated services. Fear not so much for the industry, but for our customers who should rely on quality information. In my opinion you will still need the human input to accurately access credit risk. I don’t believe there is such a thing as a “free lunch” so customers using any “free” services would do so at their own peril. I do believe that the price of credit reports will fall with these new services and it is important to follow up and offer added value products concentrating on providing quality. I would like to see more payment information incorporated into reports with companies and business exchanging payment data. We think this will give a more complete report and a broader more accurate base for credit decisions. There is however some confidentiality issues to do this so we will see what happens. More content like press clippings with relevant news about the companies and contracts are also a useful addition to the product quality. We at CreditMan.co.uk look at ourselves as information brokers and give our customers and visitors personal service and sell reports from a number of leading credit information companies. In our experience it is sometimes difficult for the customer to know which company/business they want to buy a report on and we offer a personal service by trying to identify the correct company/business name. Also the type of report that we feel would serve our clients actual needs. We offer this personal service at no extra charge I might add. We are however currently looking into automated systems for delivering reports and will offer this alongside with our traditional personal service. We will believe in giving our clients and visitors to our website at www.creditman.co.uk a choice. CreditMan.co.uk believes in quality products at the right price.

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Responsible Editor BCN :

Torkel Holt. Cyberwatcher– Norway

E-mail:  torkel@cyberwatcher.com

Phone: +47 67 11 82 99

 

 

Distribution edition November 2007
Text Box:

John Arnold FICM

Business Credit Management (UK) Ltd
Director

Mariners House,

24 Nelsons Gardens, Hedge End,

Southampton, SO30 2NE, UK
Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1489 787541

E-mail: jarnold@creditman.co.uk
Wall Street stock exchange. New York City, USA (color)Text Box:

BCN is a newsletter bringing you facts and prediction from validated sources in partnership with CyberWatcher. 

This BCN publication goes only to a select  group within the industry. BCN have a strict source and confidentiality policy.

Responsible Editor BCN :Torkel Holt. CyberWatcher- Norway E-mail:  torkel@cyberwatcher.com Phone: +47 67 11 82 99