A recent survey has revealed that businesses around the world have an increased likelihood of outsourcing their debt collection requirements in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis.

The figures, recently released as results from the Global Collections Review which surveyed over 3500 companies across four continents, revealed that when it came down to international business to business debts, along with domestic trade debts, companies were often outsourcing their debt recovery as a means to expedite the process.

“Of all countries surveyed, Belgium and the Netherlands stand out with the highest percentage of companies increasing their use of outsourced collections services (44 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively).  Amongst eight different criteria for selecting a collections agency, businesses across all countries deemed the success rate of collections efforts to be most important, followed by price, global expertise, local knowledge and easy access to up-to-date information,” the survey revealed.

The review itself gives more than useful insight into the attitude of businesses towards debt collection and shows that despite the expected similarities such as how businesses assess success rates or intimate knowledge of in-country and global collections landscapes, the survey also revealed many geographic and cultural variations.

The survey looked at the impact of the recent economic woes had on outsourcing debt collection needs, and also gave some insight into the factors that companies consider when they are looking for a debt collection agency, as well as those that might discourage a business from outsourcing their collections. For example, one note of interest showed a difference in opinion when considering the importance of the relationship with the debtor in appointing a collections supplier.

Another finding was the additional services in collection agency’s portfolio, which proved universally to be the least important factor in the selection of a debt collections service provider.

The survey was conducted among 3,538 businesses across 20 countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the USA