Channel veterans John Carter and Dennis Scott have established an e-business to provide protection to SME resellers offering credit to end-users.
E-business Credit Manager (e-bcm) aims to give SME VARs an online resource to credit-check customers and reduce the risk of failed payments.
Carter will head up e-bcm and remain managing director of BT distributor DMSL. Scott, a BT veteran of 17 years and former general manager of distribution sales for BT’s indirect channels, is commercial director.
Carter told CRN: “We have been looking to do this for a number of years. Cash is key in business, but there is a lot of cash in the hands of customers who do not pay their bills.
“With e-bcm, SME resellers can check customers’ credit before accepting them. If a customer does not pay, the reseller can send a letter asking for payment of the bill. If the customer does not pay after this then they will be ‘named and shamed’ on the web site. Every subscriber will then get that information about this non-paying customer.”
Nick Tiltman, general manager of credit at distributor Computer 2000, said: “I can see demand for e-bcm. If there isn’t demand, there should be. How good SME resellers are with checking end-users’ credit varies depending on the size of the VAR and how much finance it has. However, a lot of SME VARs do not have credit-check procedures in place.”
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