---
title: "Buyback"
url: https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/buyback
description: "A buyback is a carrier's repurchase of a factored invoice that the debtor has not paid within the agreed recourse period, usually settled from the reserve or future fundings."
---

# Buyback

**Definition:** A buyback is a carrier's repurchase of a factored invoice that the debtor has not paid within the agreed recourse period, usually settled from the reserve or future fundings.

Also called: Repurchase, Invoice buyback. Category: Factoring.

Buybacks come from [recourse factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/recourse-factoring). The contract sets a window, for example 90 days from purchase, and any invoice still unpaid at the end of it goes back to the carrier. Most factors don't ask for a check. They net the amount against the client's reserve or the next schedule, which is the [chargeback](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/chargeback) mechanism.

Even under [non-recourse](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/non-recourse-factoring) terms, buybacks usually apply when an invoice goes unpaid because of a dispute, missing paperwork, or anything other than the debtor's covered insolvency. Read the contract's definition of a covered credit event before you promise a client otherwise.

A buyback is only as good as the client's future volume. If the carrier stops factoring with you, the obligation becomes an unsecured collection against a small company that may already be gone.

> **Red flag: Red flags** Buybacks clustering on one debtor right before a client asks to terminate. A debtor saying it already paid the carrier directly or paid another factor, which points to diverted payments or [double factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/double-factoring). A client that goes quiet after a large final schedule.

## Related

- [Chargeback](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/chargeback)
- [Recourse factoring](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/recourse-factoring)
- [Reserve](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/reserve)
- [What non-recourse factoring doesn't cover (recourse vs non-recourse)](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/non-recourse-factoring-what-it-doesnt-cover)
- [Factoring cost & APR calculator](https://carrierkyc.com/tools/factoring-cost-calculator)