​Trade Finance

The bank offers Letters of credit and Standby Letters for Credit (SBLC) to suit your various requirements.

1. Documentary Letters of Credit (LC)

A Letter of Credit is issued by the bank at the request of the applicant (importer or applicant) and the banks gives an irrevocable undertaking to pay the beneficiary or exporter for goods or services provided the beneficiary presents all the documents and meets all the other conditions set out in the Letter of Credit.

Requirements for LC

• An LC facility or Cash Margin
• Completed Application Form
• A Pro-forma Invoice
• Import Declaration Form (IDF)
• Insurance 110% of LC value(where covered locally)

Charges

• LC issuance – 0.5% per quarter
• Usance /deferred payment - 0.5% per quarter
• Payment – 0.25% Flat

2. Guarantees

A guarantee is a written irrevocable undertaking by the bank to pay the beneficiary on demand in the event that its customer has not
fulfilled his/her contractual obligations and a specific sum of money within the validity of the guarantee.

Requirements

• A Guarantee facility or cash margin
• Customer’s request
• Ecowas Diaspora Banking Bank counter indemnity form
• Format of Guarantee (where applicable)

The following additional documents are required for foreign guarantees

• Copy of import declaration form
• Pro-forma invoice

Charges

• Secured 2% per year

3. Standby Letter of Credit

This is a form of a guarantee that can be used as collateral to secure facilities in the bank. Business people enter into a contract and trade outside the instrument which can be invoked in case the paying party does not meet their obligation.

4. Documentary Collections

This is a mode of payment whereby an exporter entrusts the handling of commercial and often financial documents to a bank and gives the
bank instructions concerning the release of these documents to the importer.

Requirements for payment

• Declaration for import and customs entry form
• Import declaration form
• Copy of the clean report of findings (where called for)

Requirements for processing

• Customer letter of instructions
• The collection documents

Charges

• Payment processing - 0.25% Flat

5. Others:

• Export letters of Credits
• Bill Discounting 
• Post Import Finance