Credit Clear achieves record quarterly revenue and client wins

Australian fintech Credit Clear (ASX: CCR) has reported record revenue and client wins for the first quarter of the new financial year (Q1 FY2022).

The company signed up 58 new clients during Q1 FY2022 (including Victoria’s largest toll road operator), representing an increase of 152% on the previous quarter, and maintained a 99% client retention rate.

It posted record revenue of $3.4 million (up 22% on the previous corresponding period) and an all time high for its digital platform revenue of $1.3 million (up 77%).

In its latest quarterly report, the company said the adoption of its SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) digital receivables management solution over conventional accounts receivable methods continued its strong progress.

Digital revenue comprised 37% of total revenue for the quarter and traditional-to-digital revenue conversion rates were up 117% on the same time last year.

Lockdown impacts

COVID-19 lockdowns in New South Wales saw Credit Clear’s largest tolling client put a hold on payment collections for the vast majority of Q1 FY2022.

The company said collections had resumed in October and it expected to be “making up lost ground” over the coming months.

Likewise, many of its utility clients were impacted by Australian Energy Regulator directives to put a hold on external collections in states where active lockdowns were in place.

This resulted in a decrease in new inventory during the quarter, and is expected to be compensated by a spike in referrals and corresponding recoveries in the current period.

Optimiser challenge

During the quarter, Credit Clear deployed it first strategy campaign manager module known as Optimiser, which equips clients with a data-driven and rapid decision-making capability to change collection procedures, underpinned by behavioural analytics.

The company implemented a champion/challenger test for a large water utility client which isolated two equal portions of its arrears portfolio – one received an existing strategy treatment known as “champion”, while the other received Optimiser’s “challenger” treatment.

A range of performance metrics such as collection rate and customer conversion were measured during the campaign.

After the first 21 days, the campaign showed a 17% uplift in performance (or collection rate) and a significant improvement in other metrics on the “challenger” portfolio.

Credit Clear said the uplift level from Optimiser was “extremely encouraging”.

New appointments

Last month, Credit Clear appointed Hugh Robertson to the board as non-executive director.

He has more than 35 years’ experience in financial services and equity markets, including in his current role as a director at Bell Potter Securities.

The company has also appointed a chief growth officer to drive customer acquisition in “globally-significant” Australian and international organisations.