When you can't get your bank to open a letter of credit for your imports

We hear about clients who have bank credit lines and are continually hitting their bank limits. Bank lines for SME's are a mixed blessing at best.

We have at least two solutions for this problem. The obvious one is the world of non-bank finance, where financiers are eager to fund growing businesses who sell to credit-worthy customers all over the world. For them, there's no better client than one with growing sales whose cash flow can be improved by financing their customer invoices.

The less obvious one is a variant of letters of credit. We can open documentary LC's without requiring advance collateral, only payment of opening charges. Our client is saved from tying up precious capital for several months while their order is produced and shipped. In these cases the client has to be prepared to pay for the shipment once the shipment is en route and shipping documents have been submitted to the bank.

We regularly open such LC's into supplier countries like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, India and Pakistan.