End of Quarter Data from Cortera on States Most and Least Affected by Economic Downturn

Boca Raton, FL – Cortera, a premier provider of collections and credit insight for commercial enterprises, today released their most recent data that assesses the overall economic health of a region based on how well companies are paying their suppliers. Cortera’s database tracks 18 million public and private companies in the United States based on thousands of trade payment contributors and contains over $250 billion in accounts receivable information. This analysis, which can be accessed at http://www.cortera.com/stats, revealed the following:

• Virginia and Michigan moved into the Top 10 Worst States list
• Mississippi and Oklahoma moved into the Top 10 Best States list
• Alabama witnessed the highest % past due increase (45% month over month) which dropped them off the Top 10 Best States list
• South Carolina improved the most over the last 3 months with a ~24% drop in % past due
• 42 states plus DC had a 10% increase or more in accounts sent to collections
• 7 states saw a 20%+ increase in accounts sent to collections
• For the April Top 10 Best and Worst states, please visit http://www.cortera.com/best-and-worst-states

According to Cortera CEO Jim Swift, “Despite all the negative signs we are seeing across the US, there are some bright spots, beginning with the fact that on average businesses in 10 states saw improvements in their percent past due over the past three months. One sign that the economy may be flattening out from the sharp declines is that three of those improved states have been in our Top 10 Worst list with past due percentages well above the national average. It’s too soon to tell whether businesses are getting healthier or just more confident and paying their suppliers earlier. We will continue to track this movement as well as the worst and best states in an effort to identify early indications of a more significant shift in our overall economic health.”

To help companies of all sizes improve their cash flow, Cortera has launched its new Collections Priority Rating – CPR?, designed to assist commercial collections departments in evaluating customer portfolios for signs of delinquency, changes in payment behavior and indications of internal and external events that could affect future payment behavior. Unlike a credit score which is typically based on rolling averages, CPR is based on immediate and relevant data that at any given time, can determine a company’s ability to pay. Cortera CPR? also provides a unique segmentation feature that clusters accounts based on overall payment risk. This can assist customers in prioritizing their collection efforts. To learn more about Cortera CPR, visit http://www.cortera.com.

About Cortera
In a sea of business information providers, Cortera is different. With over 15 years of industry innovation, Cortera provides a fresh perspective on business information and offers innovative tools to improve corporate intelligence. With its robust database containing virtually every private and public U.S. company, innovative analytics about each of those companies and advanced workflow software, available at http://www.cortera.com/products/, Cortera helps credit & collections professionals know more than ever before about their prospects, customers and partners. Cortera also offers free company profiles on millions of companies at http://start.cortera.com. More information about Cortera can be found at http://www.cortera.com.

Contact: Alex Cote – 857-403-1370