Factoring in CEE & SEE — report from the FCI conference in Budapest

In the first half of March, I had the pleasure of participating in Factor Chain International conference held in Budapest, Hungary, called Conference on Evolution and Outlook of Receivables Finance in CEE & SEE. The conference proved significant for a few reasons. Firstly, as Comarch we were invited to take part in panel discussion “How can digital and innovative solutions contribute to the effective development of factoring Industry;” secondly, the conference was held in stationary form, after two years off, caused by the pandemic.

Fintechs influence on Factoring Digitalization

During abovementioned discussion panel I had a pleasure of participating in, we talked about a few topics of concern to specialists. There’s no doubt to the fact that digitalization process is accelerating in Factoring industry. What appealed to the audience was the general discussion about what influence do Fintechs have on this matter, what problems do they have to face at the start of their operation, and how Factoring Software providers are able to help them. What couldn’t have been missed was the discussion on cybersecurity and the amount of work on educating the end customer also exposed to cyberattacks.

There were some fine conclusions to be taken from other panels: a short summary on the industry results (the official data are to be published at the turn of April and May) showed that after the difficulties of 2020, when the whole world came to a halt for a moment, in the year 2021 Factoring industry showed its true strength. Other related to the factoring product advantages over traditional loans and credits.

The discussion panel, titled “The future of the receivables finance market in the post-Covid recovery period in Central and Eastern Europe,” also generated a lot of interest. During this session, the panelists talked on what influence the pandemic restrictions had on the financial institutions’ policies, and the end customers’ access to borrowing credits.

Finance Security of End Customer in Factoring

The conference touched on the perpetual subject of “Fraud and Risk Management in Receivables Finance.” The main objective in this part was to share knowledge on what tools to use to keep both the company and the clients safe from losing any resources to rogue traders. The examples of new types of frauds carried out, as well as the conclusions to be drawn also interested the auditory.

Let’s hope that the coming events are to be held in stationary form, at least partially. Meeting some good-old friends in person always leads to interesting discussions and exchange of conclusions and experiences. And after such a long break and meeting only through internet communicators during the Pandemic, there were plenty of these to take.