Importers wonder: “Will they ship?”
As an importer, you often ask yourself: Can I trust the seller to deliver? You would love to pay after the goods arrive. Or even better: having an extra 90 days to settle. That’s a huge benefit. But what if your seller demands a payment in advance? Should you follow through or look for a different supplier?Traditional trade financing
Your bank is happy to help with trade finance instruments to shift the risk away from you. Documentary collections or letters of credit give you the certainty that you don’t pay before the goods are shipped. But if you lack collateral and a good credit record, few banks will want to help you out.
Prices that hurt
Banks prefer to work with large clients to keep the margins high. Documentary collections, for example, are a great service for importers. The bank hands shipping and title documents over to your buyer against payment. For larger transactions a fee of 0.2% is common, with a minimum of US$ 200. If you add a little complexity, your costs will exceed the advertised 0.2%. Maybe by as much as ten times. Bottom line: Smaller trades are more expensive to secure.
Where we step in
We want you to trade with confidence. The price of trade finance shouldn’t hold you back in today’s digitized world. New technologies such as blockchains already solve trust issues faster, cheaper and more reliably. We create tailor-made trade finance solutions to make today’s technology available to SME importers.
