Trade Services

AWARD WINNING FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS GROWTH

Success in international business depends on a number of key factors, including having the right type of financing in place and the right financial partner. Our international team provide a wide range of award winning trade finance services, for both importers and exporters, and have extensive experience in nearly all of the world’s most significant markets and business sectors.  
Our network of local relationship directors work alongside our international teams to offer you the most appropriate forms of finance to help optimise use of working capital as part of your supply chain.
 

Key services to keep international trade running smoothly

We have extensive experience in providing financial solutions for international trade in almost every part of the world. Our international teams provide key facilities designed to help keep all your international trading operations running smoothly and profitably. Whether you are looking to streamline your payments, protect your operations or work more effectively with trusted suppliers, our product specialists can help make it happen.

 Bonds and Guarantees 

If you are looking to protect yourself against loss in uncertain market conditions, we can help arrange the most widely used forms of guarantees and bonds for you. This can help you secure major contracts. Common solutions include tender and performance bonds and advance payment guarantees. In certain markets, such as the USA, we provide Standby Letters of Credit which perform a similar function to bonds and guarantees.

Documentary Credits

Having a guarantee that you are going to receive payment for your goods and services can remove a considerable amount of pressure and allow you to keep your business moving. Documentary letters of credit allow importers and exporters to deal confidently with one another, secure in the knowledge that payment will be made if the transaction is carried out according to the terms of the Letter of Credit.

As an exporter, you can gain extra comfort by asking your overseas customer to arrange for their bank to open a documentary credit, guaranteeing payment provided you submit the required documents. As added security you can ask us to ‘confirm’ the credit, meaning that we will also add our guarantee of payment.

As an importer, your overseas supplier may require you to ask us to open an Import Letter of Credit, and we will guarantee payment to the overseas supplier provided the correct documents are submitted.

Our experience means that we can streamline the process and help you reduce costs.

Documentary Collections

We can help you simplify the way in which you make and receive payments with trusted trading partners. Our considerable experience in this area means we are in a good position to help you, whether you are importing or exporting.

If as an exporter you are comfortable dealing with your overseas customer without bank payment guarantees, you can still benefit from an increased level of security by using documentary collections together with bills of exchange, where goods are only released to the overseas customer on payment or ‘acceptance’ to pay the bill of exchange at a later date.

As an importer, your overseas supplier may ask you to pay or accept bills of exchange on a similar basis and we can advise you on how best to protect your position.

Using import and export documentary collections to make international trade payments is not only straightforward, it can also help you reduce costs.

Clean Collections

We can process cheques and bills of exchange without any accompanying documentation.

Please see the section on International Cash Management for details of how to obtain quicker payment of your US dollar cheques.

Fast, secure online access to our international trade services

We’ve put many of the key financial functions of international trade online, allowing your business to monitor, operate and control the financial aspects of your international trading more closely and more effectively than before. Services are offered as individual modules, allowing you to select only those you need.

By using our online services, you can ask us to issue a guarantee online or choose and save templates to open an Import Letter of Credit.
 

_{All applications for our products and services are subject to eligibility criteria.}