To begin with, could you define what innovation is?
Innovation does not replace human expertise; it serves it. By removing repetitive, time-consuming, complex tasks that bring little added value, innovation allows Credit Managers and Treasury professionals to focus more on what they do best: anticipating, analysing, and making decisions.
Innovation can be seen from two angles. The first is the technical dimension, which is what people usually think of first. The second – and more important – is the business dimension. Technically, innovation is the ability to simplify, secure, and accelerate processes that are otherwise complex, error-prone, and time-consuming. At Fibus Digital, all our software solutions aim at exactly this: enabling Credit Managers and/or Treasury teams to achieve significant time savings and performance gains in their daily work.
Technical innovation becomes the foundation on which business expertise can be applied. This is the true purpose of innovation: to better exercise and enhance professional know-how within the company. For a Credit Manager, innovation consists of tools that improve customer knowledge so they can better anticipate risk and implement a more effective credit policy.
In your offering, what is the main innovation and how does it translate operationally?
ARI Trade enables factoring to be pushed to its full potential by revealing unused financing capacity to Finance teams, ensuring that companies are never under-financed.
By combining factoring program management and credit insurance policies within a single dashboard, ARI Trade facilitates collaboration between Treasury and Credit Management. What used to be two separate processes requiring manual reconciliation can now be done in a single click.
In many companies – especially those with multiple entities operating internationally – it is difficult to have a consolidated, real-time view of factoring performance (managed by Treasury) and customer risk exposure (managed by Credit Managers).
With ARI Trade, the CFO benefits from a consolidated view of group liquidity across all subsidiaries: how much revenue has been assigned to factors? Are there eligible clients outside the program who could be included? Has the credit insurer responded to requests for improved coverage, and what is the impact on group liquidity?
Will innovation replace human roles?
Data alone is worthless; it is what we do with it that creates value. Innovation – and AI in particular – will not replace humans but will enable them to work differently, without forcing them to. It should be seen as an opportunity, not a wave to resist. Freed from repetitive, low-value tasks, employees can focus on their core expertise.
For example, automated collection tools now handle most debt recovery tasks, allowing Credit Managers to focus only on major delays or cases requiring human intervention. Human understanding of context, nuance, and intuition will never be replaced by machines – and that is a good thing. More broadly, innovation should not only support human expertise but also restore human interaction in business processes – giving time back for reflection and dialogue.
Another key benefit of innovation is its ability to enable both depth and perspective. In depth, by revealing detailed insights that allow more targeted improvements. At a higher level, by providing consolidated reporting that helps anticipate trends and make better strategic decisions.
Why support the AFDCC Innovation event?
The Credit Manager must be much more involved in factoring-related decisions. Their expertise – from client qualification to collections – is essential in the daily management and optimisation of factoring programs.
Factoring is traditionally handled by Treasury functions. However, paradoxically, it is often the quality of Credit Management that determines the success of a program: without it, no contract truly works effectively.
ARI Trade directly addresses this need observed in the field. Among other benefits, it can save Credit Managers an average of 1 to 2 working days per week – a significant gain.
Source: AFDCC (Association Française des Credit Managers & Conseils)