Bibby Financial Services, a leading provider of financial support and funding solutions to Irish SMEs, and Coface, a global leader in trade credit insurance, have joined forces in a new collaboration to help SME’s in Ireland access securely structured funding solutions while also ensuring they are protected against potential lost revenue.

The aim of the alliance is to highlight the benefits of secure funding solutions which can support the cashflow needs of a business, while also ensuring the necessary credit insurance policy is in place to protect a business from bad debts.

The collaboration will involve Bibby Financial Services, which is part of an international network that operates in more than 40 locations across Europe and Asia, offering their Invoice Finance product suite to customers to facilitate cashflow and investment activities. Invoice Finance offers businesses access to cashflow outstanding from their unpaid invoices, helping them to access income they have already earned but not yet received. As a result, businesses can use their own funds to improve day-to-day or seasonal cashflow fluctuations or finance bigger growth plans. 

In tandem, Coface, which works with 100,000 clients in 100 countries, will provide the necessary credit insurance policy to protect your business from unpaid debts, late payments, political risk, pre-shipment risks and other losses arising from non-payment for goods or services. 

Coface utilises its business intelligence database to offer policyholders reliable information on their commercial partners and protects them against non-payment risks. Coface provides valuable credit assessments and business information on over 100 million companies worldwide. With instant commercial scores, real-time analysis, and supply chain alerts, an SME can assess the financial health of customers and focus on the most profitable, minimise risk, protect supply chains and identify new opportunities. Coface also provides a helpful early warning system about changes in the risk status of customers so you can avoid foreseeable losses. Credit insurance is suitable for any company that provides credit to another company, locally or internationally.

Welcoming the announcement, Mark O’Rourke, Managing Director, Bibby Financial Services, said: “We’re delighted to collaborate with Coface for this groundbreaking service as we understand the importance of working with key partners that understand and support our ability to make financing as accessible, flexible and affordable as possible. As we face into a year of uncertainty due to a range of macro-economic and geo-political factors, this new collaboration between Bibby Financial Services Ireland and Coface will offer SME’s as well as their financial advisors and investors peace of mind that should the worst happen – whether through a customer’s insolvency or protracted default – their bottom line is protected, their cashflow is maintained and their future is safeguarded, whether they trade domestically or internationally.”

Speaking about the announcement, Kevin Behan, Head of Commercial with Coface Ireland, said: “We’re excited about this collaboration with Bibby Financial Services because we feel it provides businesses in Ireland with everything they need to gain access to funding for growth and protection against cash flow issues. Our economists are predicting growth to slow down in 2023 due to the rising prices experienced last year. For businesses looking to grow or having issues with receivables, invoice finance offers an excellent source of funding. But coupled with credit insurance, you are not only protected against non-payment, you can also access better rates of funding and in some cases credit insurance is a requirement already.”