According to the Expert magazine, twenty new players joined the Russian factoring market in 2007, while the market volume grew by 174%. This was in fact a bit slower than a year earlier, which can be explained by the fact that the factors moved on to conquering some new market segments where the demand for their services wasn’t so acutely felt as of yet. Expert RA’s analysts believe the market is to experience some dramatic growth in 2008, though, SKB-Bank’s press officer reports.

At the moment, factoring businesses have to face the fiercest competition on Moscow’s factoring market, which is why they are increasingly heading for the provinces. According to Expert RA, the top three players on any regional market are normally among Russia’s top five ones as well. Ural Federal District is an exception to this rule, however, as one of their factoring market leaders is SKB-Bank – only the 15th best player country-wide. In the meantime, the bank’s factoring operations rose by 406.3% in 2007.

Factoring is both a convenient and profitable way of paying for goods and services. In case the payment for these is delayed, the supplier gets the money from the bank, and it is then the bank’s job to get the payment from the customer. This is often a nice alternative to a conventional loan.