IFG's Factoring Services Address Needs of 26 Percent of Small Businesses With Higher Sales in 2011

BETHESDA, MD--(Marketwire - Jun 24, 2011) - The Interface Financial Group (IFG), North America's largest alternative funding source for small businesses, announced that according to a recent U.S. Bank 2011 Small Business Annual Survey, 26 percent of small businesses reported higher sales this year. Although they are finally seeing jobs stabilize and indications of improvement in business their biggest concern is economic uncertainty, so in the future they will continue to remain cautious.

Insofar as the economic outlook, fewer owners of the nearly 3,000 small business owners surveyed believe the economy is currently in a recession. While in 2010, at least 89 percent of business owners believed the economy was in recession, today, in 2011, the percentage has dropped down to 78 percent.

What's more, 64 percent of U.S. business owners are reporting revenue in line with or higher than in 2010, when 55 percent said revenue was as good as or better than the previous 12 months. It also appears that while 22 percent say they plan to hire employees this year, almost 70 percent of them said they will keep staffing levels intact over the next 12 months.

As banks have been focusing more on small businesses, the perceptions of banking has been improving, as indicated by 43 percent of small business owners who viewed their banks as helpful to their business in the past year.

The Interface Financial Group's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman George Shapiro said, "Although perceptions of banks may be improving, the actual number of small businesses getting loans is small. On the other hand, we are seeing many more SMEs use our factoring services, which do not include long applications processes or strict credit requirements."

The small business owners were asked what the most significant challenge facing their company is today, and 27 percent of them said it was economic uncertainty, while poor sales was second at 16 percent. Apparently, over the last six months only 20 percent of them tried to borrow or borrowed money.

Factoring entails the purchase of financial assets, or receivables accounts by a factoring company which differs from traditional bank loans. A bank loan involves two parties, while factoring involves three parties. Banks base their decisions on a company's credit worthiness, whereas factoring is based on the value of the company's receivables. Invoice factoring requires no minimums or maximums, and no long-term commitments.

Between April and May of 2011, U.S. Bank researchers heard from 2,923 owners of businesses with $10 million or less in annual revenue.

About The Interface Financial Group (www.ifgnetwork.com)

The Interface Financial Group (IFG) is North America's largest alternative funding source for small business, providing short-term financial resources, including invoice factoring (invoice discounting). The company serves clients in more than 30 industries in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Ireland, and offers cross-border transaction facilities. With more than 140 offices across North America and over 39 years of experience, IFG provides innovative accounts receivable factoring solutions by offering short-term working capital to growing businesses. Single invoice factoring, or spot factoring, is an extremely fast way to turn receivables into cash.

IFG was founded in 1972 to provide short-term working capital to help small to medium-sized businesses grow. The IFG organization operates on a local level, providing clients with local knowledge and experience and business expertise in numerous diverse areas in addition to accounts receivable factoring, including accounting, finance, law, marketing and banking.