Payment behavior This is how Swiss companies pay

In 2018, Swiss companies paid a total of 23.6 percent of their bills too late. The average payment delay was 14.6 days. As a result, payment behaviour in the corporate customer business deteriorated compared to the previous year.

Bisnode D&B's analysis, which is based on an analysis of over one million invoices per month, reveals major cantonal differences. In Basel-Stadt, almost half of all invoices are paid too late. In Ticino it is still a third. By sector, the hospitality industry stands out with 40.5 percent, the retail trade with 39.7 percent and the automotive industry with 33.8 percent of late paid invoices.

Payment behaviour by canton

There are major cantonal differences in payment morale. Companies from Appenzell Innerhoden pay their bills most punctually, only 10.9 percent are in arrears. On the other hand, companies that do business with Basel companies have to wait a particularly long time for their money.

The payment behaviour of the sectors

There are major differences when comparing the industries. The top three fast payers are finance and insurance with 11.5% late bill payment, followed by recruitment agencies with 13.3% and companies in the precision instrument and watch industry with 16.0%.
The worst payers are the hospitality industry with 40.5% of late invoices, the retail trade with 39.7% and the car industry with 33.8%.

The DunTrade® program

The data on payment behavior comes from the DunTrade® program, in which Bisnode D&B collects and evaluates payment experiences. Many national and international companies provide their receivables data to Bisnode D&B - around 1.3 million invoices from the Swiss economy every month. Bisnode D&B uses this information to determine a payment index that warns against potential liquidity problems for a company.