CreditorWatch’s latest Business Risk Index reports a 48 per cent increase in B2B trade payment defaults over the 12 months to February. Defaults, which CreditorWatch says are an indicator of likely business failure, are at a record high. CreditorWatch chief executive Patrick Coghlan said in a statement: “Trade payment defaults going up while invoice values decline is a real worry. This indicates that cash reserves are being depleted and margins are being squeezed.” Business lender Scotpac has launched a line of credit product that provides up to A$250,000 over 12 months with no minimum repayments. The new product, Cash Line, is secured against business assets. To apply, businesses need a cloud-based accounting package like Xero, MYOB or Quickbooks, with connected bank accounts. Selling point are that there is no property security, approvals are done within 24 hours and repayments are flexible. Scotpac chief executive Jon Sutton said: “Scotpac understands that not every business owner can or wants to use their family home as security for a business loan. That is why we take a different approach.” Dynamoney (formerly Grow Finance) has established a A$285 million warehouse funding agreement, led by one of the big banks. Completion of the latest round of funding follows news last month that the Australian Business Securitisation Fund committed $225 million to a separate Dynamoney warehouse. Dynamoney chief executive David Verschoor said the company was looking at putting more than $1 billion of funding in place before the end of the financial year. It is expanding its product range, recently launching an overdraft in partnership with Mastercard.