restrictive and thus factoring did not develop as widely as in the US. Even then, factoring also became the dominant form of financing in the Canadian textile industry. By the first decade of the 21st century, a basic public policy rationale for factoring remains that the product is well-suited to the demands of innovative, rapidly growing firms critical to economic growth. A second public policy rationale is allowing fundamentally good business to be spared the costly, time-consuming trials and tribulations of bankruptcy protection for suppliers, employees and customers or to provide a source of funds during the process of restructuring the firm so that it can survive and grow. Modern forms In the latter half of the twentieth century the introduction of computers eased the accounting burdens of factors and then small firms. The same occurred for their ability to obtain information about debtor's creditworthiness. Introduction of the Internet and the web has accelerated the process while reducing costs. Today credit information and insurance coverage are instantly available online. The web has also made it possible for factors and their clients to collaborate in real time on collections. Acceptance of signed documents provided by facsimile as being legally binding has eliminated the need for physical delivery of "originals", thereby reducing time delays for entrepreneurs. Traditionally, factoring has been a relationship driven business and factoring transactions have been largely manual and frequently involving a face to-face component as part of the relationship building process or due-diligence phase. This is especially true for small business factoring, in which the factoring companies tend to be locally or regionally focused. The geographic focus helps them better mitigate risks that because of their smaller scale, they otherwise couldn't afford to take. To make the arrangement economically profitable, most factoring companies have revenue minimums (e.g. at least $500,000 in annual revenue) and require annual contracts and monthly minimums. More recently, several online factoring companies have emerged, leveraging aggregation, analytics, automation to deliver the benefits of factoring with the convenience and ease afforded by the internet. Some companies use technology to automate some of the risk and back-office aspects of factoring and provide the service via a modern web interface for additional convenience. This enables them to serve a broader range of small businesses with significantly lower revenue requirements without the need for monthly minimums and long-term contracts. Many of these companies have direct software integrations with