A multinational group and market leader in secure payment and transaction solutions, Ingenico delivers over 2 million terminals worldwide every year. Philippe Mc Vean, Group Treasurer & Credit Manager, reviews the main advances in security law.
Philippe Mc Vean: A company with a security interest enjoys preferential rights over other creditors, which constitutes a real privilege. In particular, the law of security makes it possible to compensate for the uncertainty of enforcement methods, which are not always effective in the event of debtor default. ARC’s expertise can prove invaluable in advising you on how to set up your security interests.
P.McV: Our company doesn’t use pledges, as we have our terminals manufactured by subcontractors, who then distribute them to banking partners or distributors. We therefore secure payments upstream. On the other hand, we use collateral for companies with limited financial resources. When we open a customer account, we carry out a credit check. If the latter is unsatisfactory, we use collateral, which enables the customer to avoid a cash advance. But pledging is only possible with our French partners. With our foreign customers, who are the most numerous, we have to find other solutions: uncollectible letters of credit, stand-by letters, interest-bearing deposits and so on. You need to be inventive and innovative to strike the right balance between sales growth and the risk incurred by the company.
P.McV: The reform of security law is a step in the right direction. The most important thing is to continue securing the commercial relationship, so as to be able to develop the business under the best possible conditions.
