March 2, 2009

New Report Illuminates Cash Flow Data as Indicator for Economic Health

BOCA RATON, FL (March 2, 2009)- Cortera, a premier provider of collections and credit insight for commercial enterprises, today released compelling data that assesses the overall economic health of a region based on how well companies are paying their suppliers. Cortera's database tracks 18 million public and private companies in the United States based on thousands of trade payment contributors and contains over $250 billion in accounts receivable information. This analysis, which can be accessed at http://www.cortera.com/stats, revealed the following:

Top 10 Best States (% of A/R Past Due)

1. Montana
2. Vermont
3. Wyoming
4. New Hampshire
5. Maine
6. South Dakota
7. West Virginia
8. Louisiana
9. North Dakota
10. Oklahoma

Top 10 Worst States (% of A/R Past Due)

1. Nevada
2. California
3. Arizona
4. Minnesota
5. Colorado
6. Idaho
7. Wisconsin
8. Michigan
9. Oregon
10. Illinois

According to Cortera CEO Jim Swift, "We're seeing regional trends in tightening cash flow track closely with high unemployment, so it isn't surprising that six of the ten worst states have higher unemployment rates than the national average. As companies increasingly turn to their suppliers for working capital needs, the ensuing cash crunch can affect the supplier's ability to make payroll and ultimately lead to layoffs. By publishing monthly statistics on this topic, we hope to identify trends such as a reduction in late payments as an indicator of an economic upturn."

To help companies of all sizes improve their cash flow, Cortera has launched its new Collections Priority Rating - CPRSM, designed to assist commercial collections departments in evaluating customer portfolios for signs of delinquency, changes in payment behavior and indications of internal and external events that could affect future payment behavior. Unlike a credit score which is typically based on rolling averages, CPR is based on immediate and relevant data that at any given time, can determine a company's ability to pay. Cortera CPRSM also provides a unique segmentation feature that clusters accounts based on overall payment risk. This can assist customers in prioritizing their collection efforts. To learn more about Cortera CPR, visit http://www.cortera.com/products/collections-priority-rating/.

About Cortera In a sea of business information providers, Cortera is different. Cortera provides a fresh perspective on business information and offers innovative tools to improve corporate intelligence. With its robust database containing virtually every private and public U.S. company, innovative analytics about each of those companies and advanced workflow software, available at http://www.cortera.com/products/, Cortera helps credit & collections professionals know more than ever before about their prospects, customers and partners. Cortera also offers free company profiles on millions of companies at http://start.cortera.com.

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