Kommersant-Tema came up with the results of a research done on Russia’s factoring market opportunities in 2007. The magazine’s analysts report the share of provincial banks keeps going up. Last year, for instance, this share came to 46.4% of the market against 43.3% in 2006.

The magazine also rated Russian companies that did best in terms of factoring earnings in 2007. SKB-Bank, for one, has received over 120 million RUR by January 1, 2008, which was 828% better than a year earlier and thus secured the bank the 11th best position among all Russian factoring market players.

According to Expert RA, the top three players on any regional market are normally among Russia’s top five ones as well. Ural Federal District is an exception to this rule, however, as one of their three most successful factoring market leaders is SKB-Bank – only the 11th best player country-wide.

Factoring is both a convenient and profitable way of paying for goods and services. In case the payment for these is delayed, the supplier gets the money from the bank, and it is then the bank’s job to get the payment from the customer. This is often a nice alternative to a conventional loan.