Rotterdam, 8 September 2026 – A growing share of companies across Europe is dealing with customers who pay late. That is not new. What is new is the question that Billogram and coeo are now putting to the companies they work with: what actually happens to the customer relationship at that moment?
The two companies have entered into a strategic partnership with a clear starting point: invoicing, payment reminders, and debt collection are experienced by customers as one continuous process – not as three separate administrative steps. “Most companies have a clear plan for how to win a customer. Very few have a plan for what happens when that customer misses a payment,” says Jonas Suijkerbuijk, founder and CEO of Billogram.
Glenn Portier, CCO and Managing Director of coeo Netherlands and Belgium, recognises the same pattern from the receivables management side: “The key question is not whether companies need to deal with payment problems, they always will. The question is how. A transparent, supportive approach keeps the relationship intact. An impersonal, automated chain of reminders often does not.”
Recovery rate is no longer enough
The success of receivables management has long been measured by a single KPI: how much of the outstanding debt is recovered. Billogram and coeo argue that this metric alone gives an incomplete picture.
A Billogram-commissioned consumer survey found that one in five consumers had cancelled a contract after receiving a payment reminder. The invoice was recovered. The customer was gone.
“An outstanding receivable is not automatically the greatest risk for a company,” says Portier. “Losing a long-standing customer often costs significantly more. That calculation is rarely made and that is exactly where it goes wrong.”
Not every late payment signals unwillingness to pay. Some customers overlook an invoice. Others face temporary financial pressure and need more time or a flexible arrangement. How a company responds to that moment determines whether the relationship continues.
One process, not three systems
Despite the increase in payment delays, the majority of companies across the Benelux continue to grant customers extended deadlines. That reflects a commercial instinct, but the underlying process often fails to match it.
Many companies use separate systems and providers for invoicing, reminder management, and debt collection. Customers encounter changing contacts and different communication channels. In a situation where clarity matters most, that fragmentation works against them.
Billogram digitises recurring invoicing and payment processes and supports companies in acting before a default occurs, through transparent communication and accessible digital payment options. coeo contributes its expertise in receivables management and debt collection, including its cAI platform that determines the right channel, timing, and tone per case.
“Customers do not differentiate between an invoice, a reminder, and a debt collection letter,” says Suijkerbuijk. “They hold the service provider responsible for the entire experience. That means the experience has to be consistent, from the first invoice to the final resolution.”
A new KPI for receivables management
The partnership between Billogram and coeo will initially be rolled out in Nordics, Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, as part of both companies’ broader pan-European growth strategy.
The ambition is to make a metric that has long been absent from receivables management a standard part of how success is measured: how many customers remain after a payment disruption?
“Successful receivables management will no longer be measured exclusively by how much money is recovered,” says Portier. “The question that will matter just as much is: how many customers are still there afterwards? Companies that keep both in view will come out ahead.”
About Billogram
Billogram is a European payment platform that covers the full lifecycle of recurring payments, from the first transaction to full resolution. Founded in Stockholm in 2011, the company serves large enterprises in the energy, telecommunications, insurance, and mobility sectors across 14 European markets, processing more than five billion euros annually. The company was founded on a simple principle: it always pays off to treat people well.
