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October 12, 2007

What is a letter of credit?

A letter of credit is a letter or document issued by a bank for use by one of its customers. The letter of credit states that the bank will guarantee payment up to the stated amount for transactions of its customer (named in the letter of credit).

The letter of credit is helpful if the bank’s customer is traveling in countries where the customer is not known. The letter of credit will allow the customer to purchase goods on credit because the seller is assured of payment. In other words, the credit risk to the seller is greatly reduced because the seller can rely on the credit of the bank instead of the credit of the customer.

A letter of credit should not be confused with a line of credit.




Comments

6 Responses to “What is a letter of credit?”

  1. Irene on November 2nd, 2008 10:22 pm

    How do I get a Letter of Credit?

  2. Haneef on April 15th, 2009 1:21 am

    Is the Letter of Credit explained above and the LC (in international trade) are different ones?

    Could you please explain?

  3. Confused on April 15th, 2009 8:46 am

    How do you post a Letter of Credit to the Balance Sheet? It is definately a liability, but what is the offsetting entry?

  4. Profroy on May 30th, 2009 11:42 pm

    A Letter of Credit is a contingent liability. It only becomes a liability when the beneficiary has performed (presented documents) that comply to the terms and conditions of the Letter of Credit.

  5. Abner on July 20th, 2009 10:30 pm

    Do you have samples on how to treat the transaction with letter of credit? I want to know where the FX loss comes in and how do we treat it in the books and recognize in BS?.. what should be debited and credited to which account. thanks so much!

  6. procs on October 25th, 2009 7:10 am

    is there any journal entry to made for letter of credit on the part of supplier?

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