Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Importance
  3. Methods of Payment in International Trade

Summary

To reach today’s world marketplace and win sales against foreign competitors, exporters should supply their customers with enticing sales terms supported by suitable payment strategies. as a result of obtaining paid fully and on time is the final goal for every export sale, Applicable payment methodology should be chosen rigorously to reduce the payment risk while conjointly accommodating the requirements of the customer. As shown in figure one, there are 5 primary strategies of payment for international transactions. throughout or before contract negotiations, you must take into account that methodology within the figure is reciprocally fascinating for you and your client.

Importance

  • International trade presents a spectrum of risks, that causes uncertainty over the temporal arrangement of payments between the businessperson (seller) and businessperson (foreign buyer).
  • For exporters, any sale could be a gift till payment is received. Therefore, exporters wish to receive payment as attainable, ideally as long as the order is placed or before the products are sent to the businessperson.
  • For importers, any payment could be a donation till the products are received. Therefore, importers wish to receive the products as before long as attainable however to delay payment as long as attainable, ideally, till once the products are resold to get enough financial gain to pay the businessperson.

Methods of Payment in International Trade

Cash-in-Advance: With cash-in-advance payment terms, a businessperson will avoid credit risk as a result of payment being received before the possession of the products is transferred. For international sales, wire transfers and credit cards are the foremost usually used cash-in-advance choices obtainable to exporters. With the advancement of the web, written agreement services are getting another cash-in-advance choice for tiny export transactions. However, requiring payment before is the least enticing choice for the customer, as a result of it creates unfavorable income.

Letters of Credit: Letters of credit (LCs) are one of the foremost secure instruments obtainable to international traders. LC could be a commitment by a bank on behalf of the customer that payments are going to be created to the businessperson, only if the terms and conditions explicit within the LC are met, as verified through the presentation of all needed documents. the customer establishes credit and pays his or her bank to render this service.  LC is helpful once-reliable credit info a couple of foreign customers is tough to get, however, the businessperson is happy with the trustworthiness of the buyer’s foreign bank. LC conjointly protects the customer since no payment obligation arises till the products are shipped as secure.

Documentary Collections: A documentary assortment (D/C) could be a dealing whereby the businessperson entrusts the gathering of the payment for procurement to its bank (remitting bank), that sends the documents that its customer must the importer’s bank (collecting bank), with directions to unharness the documents to the customer for payment. Funds are received from the businessperson and remitted to the businessperson through the banks concerned within the assortment in exchange for those documents. D/Cs involve employing a draft that needs the businessperson to pay the face quantity either at sight (document against payment) or on a fixed date (document against acceptance). the gathering letter offers directions that specify the documents needed for the transfer of title to the products. though banks do act as facilitators for their purchasers, D/Cs supply no verification method and restricted recourse within the event of non-payment. D/Cs are typically less costly than LCs.

Open Account: An open account dealing could be a sale wherever the products are shipped and delivered before payment is due, that in international sales is often in thirty, sixty, or ninety days. This can be one of all the foremost advantageous choices to the businessperson in terms of money flow and price, however, it’s consequently one of all the very best risk choices for a businessperson. as a result of intense competition in export markets, foreign patrons typically press exporters for open account terms since the extension of credit by the vendor to the customer is additional common abroad. Therefore, exporters World Health Organization are reluctant to increase credit could lose a procurement to their competitors. Exporters offer competitive open account terms while considerably mitigating the chance of non-payment by victimization one or additional of the suitable trade finance techniques lined later during this Guide. once given open account terms, the businessperson will look for additional protection victimization credit insurance.

Consignment: Consignment in international trade could be a variation of open account during which payment is shipped to the businessperson solely once the products are sold-out by the foreign distributor to the tip client. Consignment helps exporters become additional competitive on the idea of higher handiness and quicker delivery of products. Selling on consignment can even facilitate exporters cutting back the direct prices of storing and managing inventory. The key to success in commerce on consignment is to partner with an esteemed and trustworthy foreign distributor or a third-party provision supplier. applicable insurance ought to be in situ to hide the consigned product in transit or possession of an overseas distributor further mitigating the chance of non-payment.