"Even with all the talk about reforming credit practices since last year's collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., little has been done to help companies gauge the credit-worthiness of small-business customers…Cortera Credit Exchange enables companies to rate other businesses from one to five stars, share personal payment experiences, report detailed payment histories and follow-up with other reviewers."
"If you are stiffed, a new type of credit reporting agency, a company called Cortera, lets you share your experience with other business owners — pay it forward, if you will. Cortera is a venture-backed company that has put the power of the crowd to work making small and large company payment practices transparent."
"Small businesses that don't get paid don't stay in business very long. It's crucial for business owners to do their homework on the companies they do business with, and to be able to share their experiences with other business owners. Until now, there has been no effective way to do that. Cortera's new platform couldn't come at a better time."
"Cortera aims to be a kind of "wisdom of the crowds"—driven business credit agency. And in the same way that the user-powered review site Yelp has taken on established players like Zagat, Cortera has Dun & Bradstreet in its sights."
"That's why a new model for commercial credit reporting could potentially change the game. Cortera, a community-driven business credit bureau, allows small businesses to monitor, rate and exchange information on other businesses, using a peer-to-peer model rather than more traditional model of Dun & Bradstreet."
"Cortera can be thought of as a Yelp for business credit…it can help you figure out if a company you're thinking of dealing with is going to pay you in a timely fashion, or if it's run by deadbeats who should be avoided."
"Cortera is taking on the old, stodgy Dun & Bradstreet credit rating company and launching its new crowdsourced competitor to it... Cortera's strategy is to focus on small businesses that can neither afford D&B services, nor that submit data to credit rating companies for analysis."
"While the price of information has fallen, the price of credit reports has not, with the exception of Cortera. It will be interesting to see if they are able to shake up their competitors…if they do, the trade credit community will be the beneficiary."
"Cortera is another service that seems to fill a void for business today, especially small businesses. Cortera provides credit information on businesses large and small but then combines it with ratings from a community of small business owners, who provide feedback both good and bad on these businesses."
Cortera has the potential to reinvent the credit reporting industry by bringing the credit community approach to the Web and thus delivering the kind of insight not possible with traditional credit bureau approaches alone.
“Cortera has given us increased access to better information and has helped ensure that credit decisions are issued quickly and consistently.”
“Cortera is one of the true innovators in our market. We've worked with them for years and I have only great things to say. Their new community approach to credit reporting is yet another example of their industry leadership.”
“Cortera has completely changed the way we manage our customers. With Cortera we are able to easily monitor our entire customer base for any signs of trouble.”
“eCredit by Cortera was best tailored to meet the needs of our distributed credit department, and it exceeds our expectations for the flexibility and power it delivers.”
“Since deploying Cortera's solutions, Ryder has reduced the risk level of its customer portfolio by 5 percent…we are experiencing the lowest write-off volume in six years.”
