The Interface Financial Group Offers Aid to Small Businesses Losing Funding Due to CIT Group Bankruptcy

Retail analysts are predicting that customers of CIT, small retailers and suppliers, could have a difficult time obtaining financing after the holidays. According to the SCORE association (www.score.org) there are an estimated 29.6 million small businesses in the United States that employ more than half of the country's private sector workforce.

"It is small and medium-sized companies that rely on CIT for short-term financing. We hope that filing for Chapter 11 will help CIT to go through reorganization quickly so that the company can continue fueling small businesses with necessary cash flow," said George Shapiro, chief executive officer, The Interface Financial Group, Inc. "In the mean time, IFG is here to provide short-term solutions to assist those in need of funding."

CIT disclosed that it expects the in-court process to be completed by the end of the year and none of its operating subsidiaries, including CIT Bank, its business segments or international business operations, are part of the filing.

Invoice factoring is not a loan, rather it is the purchase of financial assets, or receivables, from a factoring company. Factoring differs from traditional bank loans in that bank loans involve 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 receivables. With invoice factoring, there are no minimums, no maximums, no long-term commitments and no lengthy application process.

Factoring has been around for more than 4,000 years, and today IFG is finding that single invoice factoring is a popular new tactic allowing companies to factor one invoice at a time. Invoice factoring benefits businesses that do not get paid for 30 to 60 or 90 days by advancing up to 90 percent against invoices. IFG looks at the creditworthiness of the client's customers and can fund within as little as 24 hours. The company does not expect to buy 100 percent of a company's receivables, and there are no minimum or maximum sales volume requirements.

Bank loans involve two parties, while invoice factoring involves three parties, and while banks base their decisions on a company's credit worthiness, whereas factoring is based on the value of the receivables. Factoring is not a loan -- it is the purchase of financial assets, or a company's receivables. IFG looks at the creditworthiness of a client's customers and once approved, pays within as little as 24 hours. IFG does not expect to buy 100 percent of a company's receivables, and there are no minimum or maximum sales volume requirements. IFG's professional rates are competitive because each client's circumstances vary, which may have an impact on the fees charged. The program allows choices of invoices to be factored, enabling customers to retain most of their money, while spending the minimum fees to guarantee adequate cash flow.

Factoring starts with due diligence that typically takes one to two business days, and after this has been completed the client is at liberty to offer invoices to IFG for purchase. Upon receipt of invoices, IFG checks the credit of the debtor named on the invoice and makes sure that the sale represented has been satisfactorily completed. Once this is done the debtor is advised of the purchase by IFG and the client receives their funding.

IFG's recent private label factoring products introduced by IFG include Export Factoring, providing factoring services for companies who export from the United States and Canada; P.O. Funding to finance purchase orders when a company receives a purchase order and needs to purchase supplies to fulfill the order; and Inventory Financing, a solution promoting a company's growth by funding then when they must expand and purchase inventory.

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, Australia, and New Zealand, and offers cross-border transaction facilities between the U.S. and Canada. With more than 140 offices across North America and over 35 years of experience, IFG provides innovative invoice 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.