Over 60 billion in debt, 62% of public bodies that pay structurally late and companies that have to wait on average up to 55 days after the payment deadline, which by law should not take longer than 30-60 days. It is the market for credits of small and medium-sized Italian enterprises towards central and peripheral public administration: an army of about 875 companies that supply products to ministries, local health authorities, regions, local authorities, for a total value that has indeed decreased from the 91 billion certified in 2012, but still remained above 2016 billion in 60. Of which at least half, an estimated 33 billion, does not fall within physiological cases of late payment.
Banca IFIS, which has always specialized in the acquisition of corporate loans, is launching itself on this market, and to do so it has not betrayed its innovative vocation: the bank, which doesn't even have a branch, presented TiAnticipo in Milan, an all-digital platform to simplify as much as possible the transfer of credit to the tens of thousands of companies owed by the State. Provided that this debt is certified, as has been the case for some time thanks to the work of the MEF, which has allowed 21 of the 55 public companies to certify their debt and guarantee a payment date through its portal. “Still a few – he said Raffaele Zingone, Corporate Manager of Banca IFIS -, but this first involvement first of all made it possible to quantify the overall figure, which in 2012 exceeded 90 billion, and to immediately reduce it drastically, making it go from 5,8% to 3,8% of the GDP”.
TiAnticipo is a very simple tool: all online, on a clear site accessible even to the less accustomed, and just a few clicks for the entrepreneur to get a first estimate on how much the bank is willing to offer for the assignment of credit. This initial step, in which it is sufficient to indicate the amount due, does not even require registration: after which the bank will finalize its offer based on the certification of the invoice (which is a necessary condition, but it is sufficient to request it on the MEF electronic platform), at the of payment indicated by the debtor company on the MEF certification platform, and an analysis that will be made on the state of health of the debtor public body.
“The estimate – explains Zingone – is done in a few seconds, through an algorithm, then within 48 hours the evaluation of the request is completed and, once the OK has been obtained from the Mef, we can disburse the requested credit. A very fast process that allows us to deliver the money to the company within 10 days at the latest”. A great opportunity for companies which - as has happened several times - have risked going bankrupt or have done so while waiting for payments from the PA: the average number of days of delay is between 41 and 55 days, but in the case of the ASLs it reaches wait even more than 71 days. On average, 62% of PAs do not pay on time, but in the case of Ministries it reaches 71,4%, while the worst are the capital Municipalities: 77,2% of them pay structurally late. Healthcare contributes 35% of total trade debts, while the most indebted Regions are Lazio, Campania and Lombardy. The sectors most affected by the delays are construction, energy and services. Four out of ten companies, according to the European Payment Report, have already said they want to deal with delays by having invoices anticipated: from 31 October they will be able to do so on You Advance.
“For Banca IFIS – added Zingone – this is another step towards fintech innovation, aimed at giving increasingly concrete and rapid support to Italian SMEs. A step that is the result of a three-year investment of 140 million and which foresees many other initiatives”. Fintech is a sector that is growing around the world and involves everything that will make the bank a simple but at the same time highly sophisticated software, with technologies ranging from Artificial Intelligence to the blockchain: in Italy fintech is worth 50 million, it affects 200 companies and 1.500 jobs.
