Factoring is a form of Receivables Purchase, in which sellers of goods and services sell their receivables (represented by outstanding invoices) at a discount to a finance provider (commonly known as the ‘factor’). A key differentiator of Factoring is that typically the finance provider becomes responsible for managing the debtor portfolio and collecting the payment of the underlying receivables.
The Factor has the right of return over Clientes for invoices which are not paid within the payment deadline (reassignment).
The seller benefits from the risk coverage in the event of the buyer insolvency and/or credit default. This type of factoring confers and added security to credit sales.
The invoice bears no notice of assignment and the buyer is not aware of the factoring agreement between the seller and the finance provider. The debt verification is carried out by the finance provider in the name of the seller so that the buyer is not aware of the factoring agreement.
The buyer is situated in a different country from the seller. For this reason, often two factors are involved, one in the buyer’s country (known as the ‘Import Factor’) and one in the seller’s country (known as the ‘Export Factor’).
Reverse Factoring is provided via a buyer-led program where sellers in the buyer’s supply chain are able to access finance by means of “Receivables Purchase”. The technique provides goods and services to the seller, with the option of receiving the discounted value of receivables (represented by outstanding invoices) prior to their actual due date, and typically at a financing cost aligned with the credit risk of the buyer.