Mind Your Credit Rating

Businesses have become increasingly dependent on credit. Offering credit to customers is a useful business tool but it brings with it the risk of late payment and bad debt. It is essential to credit check new and existing customers before giving credit and to continue to monitor their payment practices throughout the business relationship. This article will discuss the importance of credit ratings, what are a credit score and the D&B New Credit Risk Index.

This article also includes some brief tips on how to maintain a good credit.

ABN AMRO Cutting the Edge on SME Businesses

A recent article in Business Times dated 7 June 2007 reported that Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) banking and wealth management were the two fastest growing segments in the banking industry, as a result of the strong global economy.  

Not surprisingly, earlier, in 2006, SPRING reported that the SME industry, comprising 90% of all enterprises in Singapore, had contributed to 42% of Singapore’s GDP. Not only has the SME population grown substantially, information technology advancements have also fuelled this growth by reducing overhead costs for businesses. << read more >>

CREDIT BUREAU SINGAPORE

The Interpretation of Fact

The number of people not paying all their credit cards in full is increasing. For that matter, so is the number of people with an account in arrears and the number of people with a balance on their cards of more than $20k.

It is also true however, that the percentage of people not paying all their credit cards in full is decreasing.  The percentage of people with an account in arrears is also decreasing along with percentage of people with a balance on their cards of more than $20k. << read more >>

D&B MALAYSIA

Increase Your Bottom-Line through A Pro-active Credit Management System

Sound credit management is of vital importance not only in Malaysia but also worldwide.  In mid-July 1997, the wake of the financial and economic crisis in Malaysia has left many companies battered and bruised. Since the financial and economic crisis, the Bursa Malaysia has delisted 27 companies, 17 companies had been categorized as PN17, while there are still 16 companies with PN4 status that would soon be converted into PN17.

Prior to the financial and economic crisis, Malaysia had experienced an economic growth with decades of lucrative privatization deals and booming economy that had given a growing corporate life to corporations in the country.  Simultaneously, so expansive was the trade growth in most businesses that bad debts were often treated as the general norm in everyday business dealings without significant impact on the overall turnover and revenue growth of a company.  Furthermore, a certain amount of bad debt could be written off without ill effect and bad debts were often treated as the general norm in everyday business dealings. << read more >>

D&B MALAYSIA

D&B & CGC in Partnership to Operate Malaysia’s First SME Credit Bureau  

The Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC) and Dun & Bradstreet Malaysia Sdn Bhd (D&B) announced today they have entered into a strategic alliance to establish a SME Credit Bureau.

CGC, a subsidiary of Bank Negara Malaysia, is in the business of providing credit enhancement services to SMEs in Malaysia, a niche area in which the corporation has served for 35 years.  D & B Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of New York-based Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, is a global operator and provider of credit bureau and risk management solutions besides others like market intelligence and receivables management. << read more >>

POWER PHILOSOPHER

The Wine and Spirit Connoisseur

In this issue of Power Philosopher, we hang out with budding entrepreneur Dr Giorgio Ferrari, Managing Director of Giorgio Ferrari Pte Ltd, an up-and-coming wine and spirits distributor in Singapore and Malaysia.

Giorgio Ferrari Pte Ltd was conceptualized back in year 2000 when Dr Giorgio Ferrari, a native from Milan, Italy was having a causal conversation with the then-Italian Ambassador to Singapore. Noting that Italian wine has not much visibility in the Singapore market as compared to French and Australian wines, it then occurred to Dr Ferrari that he must seize the opportunity to create greater awareness of his native country’s produce. From that point on, as they say, it is all history. << read more >>