Factris Debuts Enhanced SMB Factoring Platform

Netherlands-based Factris is launching an enhanced version of its Finance Automation for Business platform, the company announced Monday (June 10).

The Finance Automation for Business, or FAB, platform, aims to connect Europe-based small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with financial management solutions including invoice financing and factoring tools. Factris pointed to research from the World Bank that highlighted the struggle by SMBs to access capital.

In its announcement, the company’s CEO Brian Reaves pointed to the company’s efforts to “localize” its services to SMB users.

“Financing is an inherently local business, and Factris has solved the problem by ‘scaling local,'” he said. “We’re providing the tools to enable local people to work together efficiently.”

The new platform, he said “positions us to make a real impact in helping SMEs with their financing needs.”

Factris did not go into detail as to how precisely it would localize its services to small businesses, but did say it aimed to deliver personalized financial services.

Factoring can be a controversial way to access capital, largely due to the high fees often associated with the financing solution. But more FinTechs are stepping into the market in an effort to combat its negative reputation.

In an interview with PYMNTS earlier this year, American Receivables Corporation president Jack Stieber explained the role that factoring can play in propelling growth for new companies as they journey to other forms of financing, like bank loans.

“For most banks, a startup must be somewhere profitable before they can get a line of credit,” he said. “But if they use a factoring program properly, it can help them grow.”

An emphasis on transparency and fair contracts with small businesses has amplified in the context of U.S. lawmakers considering whether to extend borrower protections to SMBs.

The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation last month into another controversial SMB financing solution, the merchant cash advance, as part of that effort.