ICSM will register all BPIF members as subscribers to its service from 1 April, the cost of which will be met by the federation.

Members will then be able to obtain specific financial information about existing and potential customers via the phone, fax or web. And they can feed information to ICSM on bad debtors.

ICSM managing director Ian Carrotte said too many printers were doing work on a "my word is my bond" basis. "That harks back to the good old days and, unfortunately, times have changed," he said.

"It doesnt hurt to credit check. Nine out of 10 reports will come back as they expect but its that one out of 10 that they need to be on the lookout for. Its a good habit for them to get into," Carrotte added.

The service will be available to all three member levels of the BPIF. And the additional members will swell the ICSM subscriber base to "between 4,000 and 5,000".

"We like what ICSM does," said BPIF commercial director Andrew Brown. "It blends publicly available information with information supplied to it by subscribers. And that information will substantially increase now that it has more members."

"This fits nicely with what we do," added Brown. "We are a business support organisation. And this offers protection to the finances of our members."

Story by Lauretta Roberts