What is Standby Letter of Credit?

A standby letter of credit (SBLC) is a guarantee of payment issued by a bank on behalf of a client that is used as "payment of last resort" should the client fail to fulfill a contractual commitment with a third party.

Trade finance company

Standby letters of credit are created as a sign of good faith in business transactions and are proof of a buyers’ credit quality and repayment abilities.

The institution issuing the SBLC performs compliance and brief underwriting duties to ensure the credit quality of the party seeking the letter of credit, then sends notification to the bank of the party requesting the letter of credit (typically a seller or creditor).

Importantly, when requesting a SBLC, a business owner proves to the bank he is capable of repaying the loan. Collateral such as promissory notes, post-dated cheques and Escrow deposits will be required to protect the bank in case of default. The business owner must pay a SBLC fee for each year that the letter is valid. The negotiable fee is typically 5-10% of the SBLC value.

Complete Your Application Process In 5 Easy Steps
  • Applicant send us the underlying contract and the proforma or sales invoice
  • EEB will create a draft instrument and quote you our charges.
  • Once you have accepted the draft, EEB will send you indemnity documents which need to be signed and notarized.
  • EEB will commence due diligence processes on the transaction and the parties, where a list of required documents will be sent along with a list of indemnity documents.
  • EEB makes a standard non-refundable charge of USD 1000 for the KYC process, however, this fee may be offset against successful issuance charges.
  • On completion of the successful due diligence and indemnity checking process, EEB will send you an invoice for our issuance charges.
  • Once we receive the non-refundable charges along with hard copy of all indemnity documents, we will SWIFT the instrument to the beneficiary's bank.
  • The beneficiary will send the goods to you and the documents to us.

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(Euro Exim Bank is in compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced across Europe on 25 May 2018.)