Giving Customers Credit - Alternative To Experian

[Angel123]

Have used Experian for many years to manage the risk of giving new customers credit terms. There are things that I dont like about the service and am wondering what other services people would recommend?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Are you selling f2f or online?

Is this a service to your customer or a way of generating additional revenue?

 

[Angel123]

Are you selling f2f or online?

Both

 

[Mark T Jones]

Any meaningful answer will revolve around how you are using it and what aspects do/don't work for you.

the easiest option might just be some dedicated training.

Some years ago, a large accountancy firm contact did exhaustive research on the various tools available - and concluded that they were much of a muchness, but that in general term, Risk Disk was the best all-round (while others beat it on specific purposes) - But they appear to have gone now!

 

[Angel123]

We are simply using the basic service to check whether a customer has a good enough rating to justify giving them 30 days credit.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Do you offer 30 days to all new customers (who pass a credit check)?

 

[Mark T Jones]

So what problems are you experiencing?

Why not go on a course to actually understand the information?

All of these tools are essentially scraping and gathering data (historical data, by definition) and putting it into an algorithm - By their nature, algorithms can change daily/continuously.

What None of them can do is predict the future, or even see an absolute current situation.

 

[Angel123]

Do you offer 30 days to all new customers (who pass a credit check)?

It is not black and white but if they pass a credit check and there are no 'black marks' then yes.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Do you make them pay upfront for their first order or two?

What sort of value per order are you risking?

 

[Angel123]

So what problems are you experiencing?

Why not go on a course to actually understand the information?

All of these tools are essentially scraping and gathering data (historical data, by definition) and putting it into an algorithm - By their nature, algorithms can change daily/continuously.

What None of them can do is predict the future, or even see an absolute current situation.

The problems are not with the information. We just find Experian a difficult supplier to deal with.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The problems are not with the information. We just find Experian a difficult supplier to deal with.

Nobody can offer a solution if they don't understand what the problem is...

 

[StrategyDoctor]

Offering credit can be risky and quite often we have to take the risk to secure the business. So it is about risk management.

Following on from some of the other replies, if the data itself is fine and the real issue is that Experian are a difficult supplier to deal with, then is switching about: customer service, usability, onboarding/support, monitoring alerts, and how easily your team can run a check? If it is then some alternatives are:-

• Creditsafe (UK company credit reports / risk scores / monitoring).
• Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) (credit reports + monitoring/alerts products).
• Equifax UK – Commercial Credit Reports (business customer creditworthiness / reports).

In my experience they are similar and the preference is what you like and understand - but in general they use the same (historic) data, so provide the same generic information and only as as a guide to past financial strength (as @Mark T Jones states).

• Some ideas for practical alternatives (or add-ons) to reduce risk beyond “pass/fail” credit checks:
  • Let the customer earn your trust: first order pro-forma or card, then move to 14 days, then 30 days once they’ve demonstrated excellent payment behaviour.
  • Tiered credit limits: “Pass = 30 days” but with an initial cap (e.g., first 30 days exposure capped at £X, then increases after 2–3 clean payments, etc).
  • Trade references (and actually verify them!), plus do a quick check for accounts overdue / recent director changes on Companies House (basic governance red flags).
  • Deposits or stage payments on larger first orders or custom/non-returnable items.
  • Clear stop-supply rules (e.g., 7 days overdue triggers credit hold; no exceptions without MD/director sign-off).
  • Ongoing monitoring for existing customers (not just new ones) so you catch deterioration early. Most businesses get hit the hardest when a long standing customer goes broke, they ignore or not looking for the signals and break their own rules because they are a loyal customer.

Most tools are broadly comparable as they use historic and filed data, so the biggest protection usually comes from tightening the credit policy and limits framework, not relying on a single score.

It would be interesting to hear what other members use as part of their credit policy?