Approaching the Financier

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We will give you some tips on the sort of things you should be asking the financier be they the bank or another type of lender. Some ideas are  below and we will be giving you a more detailed explanation to help you understand how what they do will interact with your modus operandi and with an overview from the financier you can determine if they are the best financial partner for you and your business.

Some points you can raise could include:  

•What are the SLAs for processing transactions across the full product suite ?   

•What is the bank's correspondent network like ? Can they introduce you to buyers/suppliers via the correspondents?  

 •What countries does the bank not have any representation/correspondents?   

•What practical help can the bank offer in those markets where you have trading activities but the bank is not represented ?   

•What trade products and services do you qualify for at your level of turnover ?   

•If you do not qualify for all the services why is this so and why is the bank discriminating against certain clients is this way.    

•Do they have International Trade Managers/Directors who have practical experience particularly when it comes to letters of credit, collections, guarantees and the range of commercial, transport and general documentation related thereto ? Are they fully conversant with the Incoterms?   

•Are they up to speed with changes to duty deferment guarantees?   

•Do they know what a EORI number is and when it is used?   ​  

The above is not exhaustive but it could be a start