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- Expediting Bank Reference Requests
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- Types of Credit: Consumer Credit; Bank Credit; Commercial Credit; B2B; Business to Business
- Written Credit Policy Manual
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- Do's and Don'ts of Business to Business Debt Collection, Debt Collection Practices
- Bad Debt Reserves
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Purchasing Credit Insurance
- A Letter of Introduction
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Expediting Bank Reference Requests
To expedite bank reference requests, a credit application should contain a section for the applicant company to provide its bank name, address, account number, phone number, and bank account officer name and contact information. In order to obtain a rating on the applicant's account, the creditor should ask the applicant to sign a release or "Request for Bank Credit Information Form" when the credit application is submitted. Many banks will not provide information about their customers to trade creditors without a signed release from their customer.
Written authorization from the customer can make a difference in whether banks respond to a credit inquiry. Occasionally, a bank will not respond to a creditor's inquiry. If this happens, it is perfectly acceptable to inform the applicant of the problem and ask them to contact their bank to request that the process be expedited.
If the bank wants to charge a fee for providing a rating, this technique sometimes works: Ask the applicant company to call their bank officer and request or demand that the information your company has requested be completed and returned to immediately and at no charge as a courtesy to the applicant - not to your company.
© 2008 by Michael C. Dennis. All Rights Reserved. Mr. Dennis is an author and consultant who can be reached with questions or comments at mcdennis13@yahoo.com