We all know the story of the tortoise and the hare: slow and steady wins the race. But the thing about business is you need to be both the tortoise and the hare: you need to think carefully about the decisions you make, but you need to make those decisions quickly.
It’s frustrating when credit decisions are slow: teams are getting bogged down, deals are taking longer to close and communication can become difficult. But it’s about more than frustration. Slow credit decisioning:
- Decreases revenue
- Increases risk
- Can damage customer relationships.
At an enterprise level, decisioning speed isn’t just a question of working faster. You need to reduce friction across thousands of accounts, all while keeping your business safe from unnecessary risk. So how will good credit risk data do that? Let’s explore.
Teams move quickly when they trust their credit risk data
So, you know you need to move quickly. But if you don’t have strong data, you can’t make decisions at all – let alone fast ones. Without reliable global business data, every new account introduces uncertainty. And nothing slows things down like uncertainty.
Reliable global data allows your team to:
- Confidently verify business identities worldwide
- Understand ownership structures and corporate linkages
- Apply consistent decisioning standards across regions
When data is fragmented, outdated, or incomplete, teams are forced into manual reviews, endless back-and-forth follow-ups and unnecessary frustration. Approvals slow down, which, in turn, drive your operational costs up and introduces a stronger chance of human error.
High-quality global business data removes those roadblocks. It gives credit teams a single source of truth, allowing them to assess risk quickly and move forward with confidence.
Reliable global business data gives credit teams:
- A complete view of international customers and suppliers
- Confidence when onboarding new accounts across borders
- Consistency in decisioning, regardless of geography
The result: Faster onboarding, fewer delays and more consistent credit decisions.
See how better payment data can help your team approve faster without increasing risk.
Comprehensive payment data helps you see the full picture right away
Business credit reports give you a snapshot of a company’s financial health, currently and in the past. But when you combine a credit report with historical payment data, you can a better understanding of how a business actually behaves.
Comprehensive payment data provides visibility into real-world payment performance, revealing patterns that traditional financial metrics often miss. It shows how consistently a company pays, whether payment behavior is improving or deteriorating and how a company’s performance compares to the rest of the industry.
With strong payment data, credit teams can:
- Identify early warning signs of cash flow stress
- Adjust credit limits and terms proactively
- Reduce reliance on conservative assumptions
If you don’t have the full picture, it’s easy to become overly cautious when it comes to credit decisioning. You might:
- Provide lower credit limits
- Take longer to review deals before approval
- Decline more deals outright
And, sure, you’ll be protecting your business against risk. But over a longer period of time, are you going to be able to grow your business as effectively if you’re only working with “perfect” customers?
Payment data adds context. That way, your team can move faster because decisions are grounded in evidence, not instinct.
The result: Better-informed decisions, fewer surprises and healthier customer portfolios.
Real-time monitoring lets teams focus on revenue growth
Things change quickly, which means your risk analysis needs to move even faster. A customer’s risk profile can change rapidly due to market shifts, operational disruptions, or industry-wide stress. A customer that seemed perfect last quarter could be at a much higher risk of bankruptcy today. But if you aren’t staying on top of every single customer, you won’t be able to spot those warning signs until they become a problem.
So, what? You should spend hours each day pouring over every customers’ business credit reports?
How about something a bit more realistic: real-time credit monitoring with automated alerts. They allow credit teams to:
- Detect deteriorating accounts as soon as risk increases
- Prioritize reviews based on real-time risk signals
- Take action before risk signals turn into revenue loss
Instead of manually tracking hundreds or thousands of accounts, your team knows right away when something meaningful changes, like:
- An increase in late payments
- Negative trends in factors like Days Beyond Terms (DBT)
- Declining financial indicators
The result: Faster responses, smarter prioritization and less bad debt
Industry-specific data puts credit choices into context
You’ve heard the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” A similar rule can apply to credit decisioning: what’s normal in one industry is abnormal in another. Our research, for example, found that the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry leads the nation in on-time payments: a late payer in this industry would be a red flag. On the other hand, more than 60% of bills in the construction industry in 2024 were between 1-30 days past due.
Payment cycles, margins, seasonality and risk profiles vary widely between industries. Industry-specific data provides the context credit teams need to make accurate decisions without unnecessary delays.
It helps teams:
- Benchmark customers against true industry peers
- Understand seasonal or cyclical payment trends
- Apply risk models that reflect real operating conditions
The result: Fewer false positives, better approvals and more accurate risk assessment.
When your business invests in in reliable global data, comprehensive payment insight, real-time monitoring and industry-specific intelligence, you’re instantly better equipped to:
- Onboard customers faster
- Manage risk proactively
- Support sustainable growth
Things can change quickly. The key is to make sure your business can adapt to changes even faster.
See how enterprise credit teams can use real-time data to tackle risk at scale.
Let's talk about using Creditsafe data.
About the Author
Michelle Regan-Zamora, Prestige Accounts Manager, Creditsafe
With 22 years of experience at Creditsafe across both the UK and USA, Michelle Regan-Zamora is a highly experienced and trusted professional in data, technology and credit solutions. Her expertise and long-standing track record have made her a go-to source of guidance for customers. Known for her authoritative approach and commitment to customer success, Michelle has earned the trust of countless clients throughout her career, making her a respected leader in the credit and data industry.
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