Bacs and ICM partnership set to highlight late payments issue
Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), the organisation behind Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit, has announced a working partnership with the Institute of Credit Management (ICM) to drive further awareness of the Prompt Payment Code and promote the importance of paying on time, across the whole business community.
Backed by the government, the Prompt Payment Code (PPC), launched by the ICM in December 2008, has been designed to encourage and promote best practice between organisations and their suppliers. The Code is hosted by the ICM at www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk
Bacs, a not-for-profit organisation, has invested in researching the issue of late payments and raising awareness of its impact on all businesses, particularly SMEs since 2004.
The latest wave of research carried out in December 2009 revealed that British SMEs are having to wait an average of 41 days longer than their original agreed payment terms, before invoices are paid. This was an increase of 9.5 days on the time SMEs were waiting, beyond agreed deadlines, in June 2009.
As an extension of this activity, Bacs will be working with ICM on a number of initiatives to further raise awareness of the issue, with the aim of positively impacting on entrenched business practices.
Mike Hutchinson, head of marketing at Bacs, said: “Our extensive research over many years has highlighted the extent of the late payments issue in the business community. Through our strategic partnership with ICM we hope to add momentum to the Prompt Payment Code, help inform businesses both large and small, and promote best practice, such as direct payment into bank accounts using methods such as Bacs Direct Credit.”
Philip King, chief executive of the ICM, said: “Cashflow keeps businesses in business, and there is a very clear need to change the payment culture within the UK. To this end, it is important for organisations such as the ICM and Bacs to combine wherever possible where there are shared objectives and a common desire to improve the payment performance of UK businesses.”
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Notes to editors
For more information about late payments, visit www.paymedirect.co.uk where you will find the latest Bacs late payments research, useful tools, and hints and tips for encouraging prompt payment.
About Bacs:
Founded in 1968, Bacs, the not-for-profit, membership-based industry body is owned by 15 of the leading banks and building societies in the UK and Europe.
Responsible for the schemes behind the clearing and settlement of automated payments in the UK including Direct Debit and Bacs Direct Credit, Bacs has been maintaining the integrity of payment related services for over 40 years.
Since its inception, more than 79 billion transactions have been debited or credited to British bank accounts via Bacs. And in 2009 more than 5.6 billion UK payments were made this way with a total value of £3.83 trillion.
For further information please visit www.bacs.co.uk or go to www.thesmartwaytopay.co.uk, the home of The Smarts, an animated family who use automated payments to help improve financial management and control.
More about Direct Debit:
A Direct Debit is an instruction from a customer to their bank or building society authorising an organisation to collect varying amounts from their account. This can be used to ensure regular, safe and efficient payments of anything from household bills to charitable donations. Over three billion Direct Debit payments are processed by Bacs a year and 72 per cent of adults now have at least one Direct Debit commitment.
To learn more about setting up a Direct Debit to help keep your bank account in order, please contact your bank or building society.
More about Bacs Direct Credit:
Bacs Direct Credit is mainly used for paying wages and salaries – in fact over 80 per cent of the UK workforce is paid via Bacs Direct Credit. In total, Bacs Direct Credit is used for paying four million wages every week and nearly 25 million salaries a month.
In 2009, more than 2.26 billion payments were processed using Bacs Direct Credit, a new record for the payment method.
About the ICM
The Institute of Credit Management (ICM) is Europe’s largest credit management organisation. The trusted leader in expertise for all credit matters, it represents the profession across trade, consumer, and export credit, and all credit-related services. Formed over 70 years ago, it is the only such organisation accredited by Ofqual and it offers a comprehensive range of services and bespoke solutions for the credit professional (http://www.icm.org.uk/) as well as services and advice for the wider business community (http://www.creditmanagement.org.uk/).
The services offered by the ICM include:
Professional membership grades | Recruitment agency | Conferences and seminars | Professional Qualifications and unit awards | Bookshop | A network of local branches | Consultancy | Training | Credit Management Helpline | Online services through icmOS | Credit Management magazine and monthly email briefings | Member website forums | Quality in Credit Management accreditation | Member benefits and discounts | Social networking community