Investopedia contributors come from a range of backgrounds, and over 25 years there have been thousands of expert writers and editors who have contributed. Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a ...

Letters of credit are legal instruments providing a financial guarantee. They assure a beneficiary that payments will be made or nonfinancial obligations performed by a seller or provider. Standby ...

Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Robert Kelly is managing director of XTS Energy LLC, and has more than three decades of ...

A letter of credit guarantees payment to sellers in international trade. Not all letters of credit are transferable; terms vary. Letters of credit differ from lines of credit, mainly not involving ...

Accounting for a letter of credit on your balance sheet depends on when you use it. One issued by your financial institution acts as a credit substitute. That institution, often a bank, steps into ...

For community and regional banks, letters of credit remain one of the most valuable and often underappreciated tools for supporting local businesses engaged in domestic and international trade. Even ...

Commercial letters of credit provide reliable means of payment in commercial sale transactions Letter of credit and bank's payment are independent of underlying sale transaction Bank's obligation to ...