Summary Interpretation of Common Foreign Trade Payment Methods

Payments are distinguished by the account received:

1. corporate accounts: T/T, L/C, D/P, D/A, O/A 2. Private accounts: Western Union Remittance, Paypal, Remittance Gold, T/T T/T T/T(Telegraphic Transfer) refers to a kind of remittance method in which the remitting bank sends a telex or SWIFT to a branch or correspondent bank in another country (i.e. the remitting bank) to instruct the remitting bank to remit a certain amount to the payee upon the application of the remitter.

The T/T payment method is cash settlement in foreign exchange. Your customer will remit the money to the foreign exchange bank account designated by your company. T/T is a commercial credit. After the goods are ready, if the customer pays the full amount of the payment, you can send the documents directly to the customer without going through the bank.

T/T wire transfer is divided into two types, one is called the former TT (former T/T). What is the former TT (former T/T)? In the international trade industry, that is to say, those who pay 100% of the payment before the consignor delivers the goods are called former TT (former T/T). This method of payment is the safest method of international trade compared to the seller, because the seller does not need to bear any risks, as long as he receives the money, he will deliver the goods, and if he does not receive the money, he will not deliver the goods. The former TT (former T/T) can also be divided into many flexible ways, first 20%~40% deposit, then 80%~60% before shipment. The specific proportion is flexible according to different situations.

The second is the post-TT (post-T/T) payment method. The post TT (post T/T) payment method is defined in the line as the buyer pays off the balance after the goods are delivered. Then how does the buyer pay the balance? In general, after TT (after T/T) is based on B/L(BL) copy of the bill of lading to pay the balance. The post-TT (post-T/T) mode is also relatively flexible. Generally speaking, the international post-TT (post-T/T) payment method is generally popular, with the guest paying 30% deposit first and the other 70% paying the balance when the guest sees the copy of bill of lading (BL,B/L). Of course, there are also some 40% deposit and 60% bill of lading.

Frequently asked questions about T/T payment 1. The payee’s wrong information leads to losses. Many customers are careless and write the payee’s name wrong, such as wrong words, such as the name is too long and the remittance is limited by the filling space, etc. The remittance does reach the payee’s account, but due to the wrong information, the payment cannot be release. Processing result: if the general situation is not resolved on the 15th (or according to the actual situation of each bank), then the original road will be returned. Solution, 1. Inform the customer to make an amendment to the information, and clearly inform the customer that we cannot collect the money and execute the order without changing it. 2. If the company name is too long after the second cooperation, the customer can be informed to write the part that the name cannot be written in the address bar, and the payment can be made smoothly.

2. After the T/T customers default on the balance, some customers are relatively tardy and delay in payment. First of all, when signing the contract, the payment time of the balance should be clearly indicated, for example, see the clauses such as the bill of lading copy to be paid within 3-5 working days to avoid the delay in collecting the balance. Of course, in order to avoid this situation, we need to analyze and study customers, and it is best to avoid risks in advance.

L/C Letter of Credit (L/C) refers to a written document issued by a bank (issuing bank) to make payment to a third party (beneficiary) or its designated party according to the requirements and instructions (of the applicant) or on its own initiative and subject to the terms of the letter of credit. That is, a letter of credit is a written document issued by a bank that promises payment conditionally.

In international trade activities, the seller and the buyer may not trust each other. After the buyer worries about the advance payment, the seller will not deliver the goods as required by the contract. The seller is also worried that the buyer will not pay after delivery or submission of shipping documents. Therefore, the two banks are required to act as guarantors for both buyers and sellers, to deliver documents for collection, and to replace commercial credit with bank credit (bank credit is higher than commercial credit). The tool used by the bank in this activity is the letter of credit.

It can be seen that letter of credit is the bank’s certificate of conditional guarantee of payment and has become a common method of settlement in international trade activities. According to the general provisions of this method of settlement, the buyer first deposits the purchase price with the bank, and the bank opens a letter of credit, informing the seller’s bank in another place to tell the seller that the seller delivers the goods according to the terms stipulated in the contract and the letter of credit, and the bank pays on behalf of the buyer.

Three Distinctive Features of Letter of Credit First, the letter of credit is a self-sufficient instrument. The letter of credit is not attached to the sales contract, and the bank emphasizes the written authentication of the separation between the letter of credit and the basic trade when examining the bill.

Second, the letter of credit is a pure documentary transaction. The letter of credit is from cash against documents and is not subject to the goods. As long as the documents match, the issuing bank should pay unconditionally. (match only, match documents) Third, the issuing bank bears primary liabilities for payment. Letter of credit is a kind of bank credit, it is a kind of guarantee document of the bank, the issuing bank has the primary responsibility for payment.

Classification of letters of credit There are many types of letters of credit, roughly divided into the following categories:

A according to the documents of the credit or the requirements of the credit itself:

(1) whether the draft under the letter of credit is accompanied by shipping documents is divided into:
Documentary credit and clean bill credit.

(1) Documentary Credit is a credit payable by documentary draft or documents only. Documents here refer to documents representing the ownership of the goods (e.g. ocean bills of lading, etc.), or documents proving that the goods have been delivered (e.g. railway waybills, air waybills, parcel receipts). UCP600 Documentary Credit Practice (2) Clean Credit is a credit payable by Clean Draft without shipping documents. The bank may also require the beneficiary to submit some non-freight documents, such as invoices, advance payment lists, etc. for payment based on bare-ticket letters of credit.

Documentary letters of credit are mostly used in international trade settlement.

(2) Based on the responsibility of the issuing bank, it can be divided into:

(1) irrevocable l/c. It refers to the issuing bank cannot unilaterally modify or cancel the credit once it is opened without the consent of the beneficiary and relevant parties. As long as the documents provided by the beneficiary conform to the stipulations of the credit, the issuing bank must fulfill its payment obligations.

(2) revocable l/c. The issuing bank shall mark “revocable” on the letter of credit without obtaining the consent of the beneficiary or the parties concerned. However, “UCP500” stipulates that the credit cannot be cancelled or amended as long as the beneficiary has received the guarantee of negotiation, acceptance or deferred payment according to the terms of the credit. It also stipulates that if the letter of credit does not indicate whether it is revocable, it shall be regarded as an irrevocable letter of credit.

The latest UCP600 stipulates that banks cannot open irrevocable letters of credit! (Note: Irrevocable letters of credit are commonly used) (3) on the basis of whether there is another bank to guarantee payment, can be divided into:

(1) confirmed l/c. Refers to the letter of credit issued by the issuing bank, and another bank guarantees to fulfill the payment obligation for documents conforming to the terms of the letter of credit. The bank that confirms the letter of credit is called the confirming bank.

(2) unconfirmed l/c. The letter of credit issued by the issuing bank has not been confirmed by another bank.

(4) according to the payment time is different, can be divided into (1) sight l/c. A letter of credit in which the issuing bank or the paying bank immediately performs the payment obligation upon receipt of a documentary draft or shipping document conforming to the terms of the letter of credit.

(2) usance l/c. Refers to the issuing bank or the paying bank, when receiving the documents of the letter of credit, performs the payment obligation within the stipulated time limit.

(3) fake Usance Credit Payable at Sight. The letter of credit stipulates that the beneficiary shall draw a time draft, which shall be discounted by the paying bank, and that all interest and expenses shall be borne by the issuer. For the beneficiary, this letter of credit is actually still payable at sight, and there is a “usance L/C payable at sight” clause in the letter of credit.

(5) According to whether the beneficiary’s right to the letter of credit can be transferred, it can be divided into:

(1) transferable l/c. The beneficiary of the credit (the first beneficiary) may request the bank that authorizes payment, undertakes deferred payment responsibility, accepts or negotiates (collectively referred to as the “transferring bank”), or when the credit is freely negotiable, may request the transferring bank specially authorized in the credit to transfer all or part of the credit to one or more beneficiaries (the second beneficiary). The issuing bank should clearly indicate “transferable” in the credit and only transfer once.

(2) Non-transferable letter of credit. A letter of credit in which the beneficiary cannot transfer the rights of the letter of credit to others. Any letter of credit that does not indicate “transferable” is a non-transferable letter of credit.

(6) Letter of Credit with Red Terms. This letter of credit allows the issuing bank to prepay a part of the money to the seller after receiving the documents. This letter of credit is often used in manufacturing.

B according to the purpose of the letter of credit (1) Revolving L/C Refers to the letter of credit is used in whole or in part, its amount is restored to the original amount, can be used again, until it reaches the specified number of times or the specified total amount. It is usually used for uniform delivery in batches. Under the condition of letter of credit revolving according to the amount, the specific methods to restore the original amount are as follows:

(1) automatic circulation. When a certain amount is used up in each issue, it can be automatically restored to the original amount without waiting for the notice of the issuing bank.
② Non-automatic circulation. After a certain amount of money is used up in each period, the letter of credit cannot be restored to the original amount until the issuing bank notifies it to arrive.
③ Semi-automatic circulation. That is, within several days after each use of a certain amount, the issuing bank does not give a notice to stop recycling, and the original amount can be automatically restored from day x.

(2) open letter of credit (Reciprocal L/C) Refers to the letters of credit opened by the applicants of two letters of credit in favor of each other. The amounts of the two letters of credit are equal or approximately equal, and can be opened simultaneously or successively. It is mostly used for barter trade or processing and compensation trade.

(3) back-to-back letter of credit Also known as open letter of credit, refers to the beneficiary requires the advising bank or other bank of the original credit to open another new letter of credit with similar contents based on the original credit, and the issuing bank of the opposite letter of credit can only open it according to the irrevocable letter of credit. The opening of a back-to-back letter of credit usually involves middlemen reselling other people’s goods, or when the two countries cannot directly handle import and export trade, the trade is communicated through a third party in this way. The amount (unit price) of the original letter of credit should be higher than the amount (unit price) of the opposite letter of credit, and the shipment time of the opposite letter of credit should be earlier than the stipulations of the original letter of credit.

(4) anticipatory credit/packing credit The issuing bank authorizes the paying bank (advising bank) to prepay all or part of the credit amount to the beneficiary, and the issuing bank guarantees to repay and bear the interest, i.e. the issuing bank pays before, the beneficiary pays after, contrary to the usance credit. The advance letter of credit shall be paid by the exporter’s bare ticket, and the beneficiary is also required to attach a manual for making up the documents stipulated in the letter of credit. when the shipping documents are delivered, the paying bank will deduct the interest on the advance payment when paying the remaining payment.

(5) Standby credit Also known as Commercial paper credit and guarantee credit. Refers to the issuing bank according to the request of the applicant for issuing a certificate of commitment to the beneficiary issued a certain obligation. That is, the issuing bank guarantees that if the applicant fails to fulfill his obligations, the beneficiary can obtain reimbursement from the issuing bank only by presenting the provisions of the standby letter of credit and the issuer’s proof of default. It is bank credit and is a way for the beneficiary to obtain compensation when the issuer defaults.
Explanation of Common Terms in Letter of Credit Issuer: The person who points to a bank to apply for opening a letter of credit, also known as the issuer in the letter of credit. Obligations: issuing certificates according to the contract; Pay a proportional deposit to the bank; Timely payment redemption form. Rights: inspection and redemption forms; Inspection and return (all based on letter of credit) Note: The application for issuing a credit has two parts: the application for issuing a credit to the issuing bank and the statement and guarantee to the issuing bank (stating that the ownership of the goods belongs to the bank before the redemption order is paid; The issuing bank and its correspondent bank are only responsible for the apparent conformity of the documents. The issuing bank is not responsible for errors in document delivery; Not responsible for “force majeure”; Guarantee payment redemption form due; Ensure payment of all expenses; The issuing bank has the right to add deposit at any time. Have the right to decide the cargo insurance agency and increase the insurance level at the expense of the applicant.

Beneficiary: refers to the person named in the credit who has the right to use the credit, i.e. the exporter or the actual supplier. Obligation: Upon receipt of the L/C, it shall check with the contract in time. In case of discrepancy, it shall require the issuing bank to amend or refuse to accept or require the applicant to instruct the issuing bank to amend the L/C as soon as possible. If accepted, deliver the goods and notify the consignee, prepare the documents and present them to the negotiating bank for negotiation within the stipulated time. Be responsible for the correctness of the documents. In case of any discrepancy, the issuing bank’s instructions to amend the documents shall be followed and the documents shall still be presented within the time limit stipulated in the credit. Rights: The right to unilaterally cancel the contract and reject the letter of credit after notifying the other party if the amendment is refused or still inconsistent after the amendment; After presentation, if the issuing bank closes down or refuses to pay without reason, the issuing bank may directly request the applicant to make payment. If the applicant is bankrupt before collection, the shipment of goods can be stopped and handled by himself. If the credit has not been used when the issuing bank closes down, the applicant may be required to open another credit.

Issuing bank: refers to the bank that accepts the entrustment of the applicant to open the letter of credit and undertakes the responsibility of ensuring payment. Obligations: correct and timely issuance of certificates; Assume primary payment responsibility. Rights: Charge handling fees and deposit; Refusal of non-conforming documents from beneficiary or negotiating bank; If the applicant is unable to pay the redemption bill after payment, the bill and goods can be processed. If the goods are insufficient, the balance can be recovered from the applicant.

Notifying bank: refers to the bank entrusted by the issuing bank to transfer the letter of credit to the exporter. it only proves the authenticity of the letter of credit and does not undertake other obligations. it is the bank where the export place is located. It is necessary to prove the authenticity of the letter of credit; The forwarding bank is only responsible for forwarding.

Negotiating bank: refers to the bank willing to buy documentary drafts submitted by beneficiaries. According to the letter of credit issuing bank’s payment guarantee and the beneficiary’s request, the bank that advances or discounts the documentary draft delivered by the beneficiary according to the stipulations of the letter of credit and claims compensation from the paying bank stipulated in the letter of credit (also known as the purchasing bank, the documentary bank and the bank in effect); Generally, it is the notification line. Limited negotiation and free negotiation). Obligations: Strict examination of documents; Advance or discount documentary bills; Backloading letters of credit; Rights: negotiable or non-negotiable; Documents can be processed after negotiation; If the issuing bank closes down after negotiation or refuses to pay, it may recover the advance from the beneficiary.

Paying bank: refers to the bank designated to pay in the credit. in most cases, the paying bank is the issuing bank. The bank that pays the beneficiary for documents conforming to the letter of credit (which may be the issuing bank or another bank entrusted by it). Have the right to pay or not to pay; Once paid, they have no right of recourse to the beneficiary or the holder of the bill.
Confirming bank: the bank entrusted by the issuing bank to guarantee the letter of credit in its own name. Add “guaranteed payment”; Irrevocable firm commitments; Independently responsible for letters of credit, cash against documents; Only the issuing bank can claim compensation after payment; If the issuing bank refuses to pay or closes down, it has no right of recourse to the beneficiary and negotiating bank.

Accepting bank: refers to the bank that accepts the draft submitted by the beneficiary and is also the paying bank.

Reimbursement bank: refers to the bank (also called clearing bank) entrusted by the issuing bank in the letter of credit to repay the advances to the negotiating bank or the paying bank on behalf of the issuing bank. Pay only without examining the documents; Just pay, no matter the refund; If not, the issuing bank will reimburse.

Process of Letter of Credit

(1) The applicant shall fill in the application form and pay the deposit or provide other guarantees according to the contract, and ask the issuing bank to issue the credit.

(2) The issuing bank shall issue a letter of credit to the beneficiary according to the contents of the application and send it to the advising bank in the place where the exporter is located.

(3) The advising bank shall hand over the L/C to the beneficiary after verifying the seal is correct.

(4) After verifying that the contents of the letter of credit are in conformity with the stipulations of the contract, the beneficiary shall ship the goods, prepare the documents and draw a bill of exchange in accordance with the stipulations of the letter of credit, and send it to the negotiating bank for negotiation within the validity period of the letter of credit.

(5) The negotiating bank will advance the payment to the beneficiary after reviewing the documents according to the terms of the credit.

(6) The negotiating bank shall send the draft and shipping documents to the issuing bank or its specific paying bank for compensation.

(7) The issuing bank shall pay the negotiation bank after verifying the documents are correct.

(8) The issuing bank notifies the issuer of the payment redemption form.

Common countries that must pay large sums by LC: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Algeria, Uzbekistan, etc.

D/P Documents against payment (D/P) refers to a method of settlement in which the collecting bank must pay off the goods to the importer before handing over the commercial (freight) documents to the importer.

D/P Sight means that the exporter draws a sight draft, which is presented to the importer by the collecting bank. The importer must pay after seeing the draft. When the payment is paid, the importer obtains the shipping documents.

D/P after sight or after date refers to the time draft drawn by the exporter, which is presented to the importer by the collecting bank. After acceptance by the importer, the importer pays the redemption bill on or before the maturity date of the draft.

Existing risks In the D/P business, the bank does not review the contents of the documents, nor does the bank undertake the payment obligation. The bank only provides services such as forwarding documents, presenting documents on behalf of the bank, and collecting and transferring funds on behalf of the bank. In the D/P export business, exporters should pay attention to the following important issues:

1. In D/P business, the guarantee for the exporter to obtain the payment is the importer’s credit standing, so paying attention to the importer’s payment ability and commercial credit standing is an important prerequisite for obtaining the payment.

2. After the delivery of the goods, during the circulation of the documents from the exporter to the importer, attention should be paid to controlling the goods through the control of the documents. Before the importer pays, the documents should be firmly controlled.

3. Problems often occur in practice at the document transfer and handover points, i.e. the handover point from the exporter to the bank, the handover point from the seller’s bank to the buyer’s bank, and the handover point from the buyer’s bank to the importer. Therefore, it is necessary to control these handover points and the documents should be circulated in accordance with regulations.

4. Try to use the method of instruction bill of lading. In this way, the goods can be controlled by controlling the bill of lading.

Risks of D/P Although the bank in the place of import must pay the importer before delivering the documents to the importer in both cases, the legal risks of the two should be said to be the same, but due to the different risks faced in commercial practice, it is more risky for exporters to directly prompt the buyer’s designated bank for payment. According to the “Uniform Rules for Collection” of the International Chamber of Commerce, the normal collection practice is for the export company to entrust its correspondent bank to handle the collection. For this act, the remitting bank, the remitting bank, on its own, entrusts the importer’s correspondent bank or the bank named by the importer to handle the presentation and payment (the collecting bank).

However, in the collection business, the collecting bank has no obligation to accept the entrustment of the exporter. In other words, after receiving the collection instruction, the bank has the right to refuse to handle it. Exporters handle collections through their correspondent banks (remitting banks), and remitting banks arrange collecting banks (whether or not the bank is named by the importer and whether or not it is the importer’s correspondent bank) to handle presentation and collection on their behalf. The remitting bank shall bear the obligation to the exporter for the risks in the process of mailing the collection documents. In addition, if there are any problems during the presentation of payment, the remitting bank shall have full and effective contact with the collecting bank.

D/A Documents against Acceptance-D/A means that the exporter’s documents are subject to the importer’s acceptance on the bill. That is, the exporter issues a time draft after shipping the goods, together with the commercial documents, and prompts the importer through the bank. After the importer accepts the draft, the collecting bank will hand over the commercial documents to the importer, and the payment obligation will not be fulfilled until the draft expires. As D/A means that the importer can obtain commercial documents upon acceptance of the bill of exchange so as to withdraw the goods. Therefore, D/A is only applicable to collection of time bills.

D/A is a common method of payment in international trade. The exporter instructs the collecting bank through the collecting bank to issue ownership and other shipping documents to the importer after the importer accepts the bill of exchange. Exporters will face the risk that importers will not settle their payments on time.

The so-called “acceptance” means that the drawee (importer) of the bill approves the bill when the collecting bank presents the time bill. The acceptance procedure is for the drawee to sign the bill, endorse the word “acceptance” and the date, and return the bill to the holder. No matter how many times the bill has been transferred, the drawee should pay by the bill on its maturity.
Western Union Western Union Remittance is short for Western Union and is the world’s leading express remittance company. It has a history of 150 years. It has the world’s largest and most advanced electronic remittance financial network and its agent network covers nearly 200 countries and regions. Western Union is a subsidiary of First Data Corporation (FDC), one of the Fortune 500 companies in the United States. China Everbright Bank, China Postal Savings Bank, China Construction Bank, Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank, Jilin Bank, Harbin Bank, Fujian Strait Bank, Yantai Bank, Longjiang Bank, Wenzhou Bank, Huizhou Bank, Pudong Development Bank and other banks are Western Union remittance partners in China.

For small amount of private remittance, Western Union remittance is preferred. Customers only need to say your name and nationality to make payment. Remember the order of surname and first name:

Chinese GIVEN NAME is both a FIRST NAME and a first name.

China’s FAMILY NAME is the last name. tell the customer not to write it backwards. after payment, the customer will have a payment voucher, also known as the water bill, with an important information MTCN number, called the monitoring number. with this number, the remittance can be collected at the above-mentioned bank counter or on the internet. Priority is given here to Pudong Development Bank. APP download on mobile phone can be completed in one minute.

The handling fee for Western Union remittance is paid by the payer. So the cost of collecting foreign exchange is zero.

PayPal PayPal(PayPal Holdings, Inc, branded as PayPal in mainland China) is a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay Company in the United States. Established by Peter Thiel and Max Levchin in December 1998, the company is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA.

Transferring funds between users who use e-mail to identify themselves avoids the traditional method of mailing checks or remitting money. PayPal has also cooperated with some e-commerce websites to become one of their payment methods. However, PayPal charges a certain amount of handling fee when transferring money by this payment method.

Payment process When a payer wants to pay an amount to a merchant or payee through PayPal, it can be divided into the following steps:

1. As long as there is an e-mail address, the payer can log in to open a PayPal account, become its user through authentication, provide credit card or relevant bank information, increase the amount of the account, and transfer a certain amount of money from the account (such as credit card) registered at the time of opening the account to the PayPal account.

2. When the payer starts the payment process to the third party, he must first enter the PayPal account, specify a specific amount to be remitted, and provide the payee’s e-mail account to PayPal.

3. PayPal then sends an e-mail to the merchant or the payee, informing them that there is money waiting to be received or transferred.

4. If the merchant or the payee is also a PayPal user, the money designated by the payer will be transferred to the payee after the merchant or payee decides to accept it.

5. If the merchant or the payee does not have a PayPal account, the payee may enter the website to register and obtain a PayPal account according to the instructions of the PayPal e-mail content. The payee may choose to convert the money obtained into a cheque and send it to the designated place, transfer it to his personal credit card account or transfer it to another bank account.

From the above process, it can be seen that if the payee is already a PayPal user, then the money will be remitted to his PayPal account. If the payee does not have a PayPal account, the website will send a notification email to guide the payee to register a new account with the PayPal website.

Paypal pays the remittance recipient a handling fee. The handling fee is made up of a certain proportion and a service fee. Specific details can be consulted with a specialized Paypal provider. The disadvantage is that if the customer pays with a credit card, Paypal can still recover the payment from you even if you receive the payment. PayPal has a high handling fee and can flexibly arrange it according to the actual situation of the company and individuals.

Express money Moneygram is a kind of global fast remittance service between individuals, which can complete the remittance process from the remitter to the payee in more than ten minutes and has the characteristics of quickness and convenience. Remittance fund is a remittance institution similar to western union.

The remitter does not need to choose a complicated remittance route, and the payee does not need to open a bank account first to transfer funds.

If RMB is drawn from US dollars, this business is a foreign exchange settlement business. No matter whether domestic or overseas individuals settle foreign exchange, each person can settle the equivalent of US$ 50,000 (inclusive) with his/her valid identity documents every year. That is, there is no longer any restriction on the amount of single foreign exchange settlement, as long as it does not exceed the equivalent of US$ 50,000 in the current year.

So when your client tells you to send you a MONEY GRAM, you just ask your client to (1)Reference number (remittance password) eight digits (2)Sender’s first name (3)sender’s surname Then go to the local branch of the relevant cooperative bank and have a special MONEY GRAM counter. they will give you a receipt form, fill in the relevant information about the customer and yourself, and bring your own id card to get the money.

Personal T/T If you pay to your personal account, you only need to provide the following information to receive it. Of course, there is still a limit of US$ 50,000 per person per year.
BENEFICIARY: XXXXXXX A/C NO.: XXXXX A/C BANK: XXXXXXX ADDRESS: XXXXXXXX SWIFT CODE: XXXXXX POST CODE: XXXXXX