In light of the continuing difficult markets Barclays has made its popular business credit-checking service, CreditFocus, free to business customers until the end of the year, extending a lifeline to over seven hundred thousand UK companies. As well as helping owner managers assess the creditworthiness of the businesses they trade with, the service can also provide help by preparing legal letters chasing payment, which are successful in the majority of cases.

CreditFocus addresses two of the most common causes of business failure, bad debts and late payments, and to date has been used to credit check over one million businesses as well as to chase £42 million in unpaid debt. Barclays research in 2010 further reveals the scale of the issue, with businesses forced to write off an average of around £2,500 per year, and spending two working weeks invoicing and chasing late payments.

Using data sourced by Experian, the UKs leading credit reference company, small businesses have the ability to take control of their finances and protect their business against bad debts - usually a process only enjoyed by larger companies. Detailed insights into businesses and automated early-warning systems enable companies to protect its finances and, when problems do occur, debt recovery solicitors can be engaged to send letters on the business' behalf, thus allowing a company to reclaim thousands of pounds worth of unpaid debt. As part of the service around 27,000 text alerts are sent each week to customers to advise them of changes to their own customers' credit rating.

Steve Cooper, Managing Director of Barclays Business, said: "SMEs, more than any other sized business, suffer the most when they are not paid on time. CREDITFOCUS gives small businesses the ability to credit-check anytime, anywhere. The automated e-mail alert system also allows a business to continue operating without having to constantly re-affirm whether the companies they are trading with are having finance problems. CREDITFOCUS therefore saves small businesses both time and money."

The basic version of the online service, CREDITFOCUS Classic, is free to Barclays Business customers until December 2011 and includes five credit checks, subsequent credit monitoring and one debt recovery solicitor letter. The more comprehensive version, CREDITFOCUS Pro, offers unlimited credit checks, ongoing monitoring of customers, as well as unlimited debt recovery solicitor's letters. It is available to non-Barclays customers for £15 + VAT per month on a 12-month contact. The price for Barclays business customers in £10 + VAT per month.