What is documentary collection?
Documentary collection is a conditional form of payment used in foreign and domestic transactions. It is a written instruction from the exporter's (seller's) bank to the payer's (importer's/buyer's) bank to release specific documents to the payer, giving the right to dispose of goodsin exchange for the payer's meeting conditions stipulated in the collection instructions:
- for payment of the amount indicated in the instructions or security of payment (acceptance of a bill-of-exchange or obtaining acceptance of the bill-of-exchange and payment for the bill-of-exchange) or
- release of documents under other conditions.
See how documentary collection works!
Is documentary collection perfect for your business?
If you are running a trading or service business with domestic or foreign partners you know well and trust, collection is a convenient solution for you. If you are a seller, documentary collection will additionally protect you against surrendering goods to a buyer before he has paid. As a buyer, you will be certain that the goods have been dispatched in accordance with your instructions.
Contact your Credit Advisor who will give you detailed information about the offer and the documents required by the Bank, and help you prepare a collection order.
What types of documentary collection are there?
Depending on the type of documents which are the object of collection, the following types are identified:
- documentary collection, which involves only trade documents (invoices, documents of ownership title, insurance documents, transport documents, other documents used in trade transactions) or commercial documents with which financial documents were enclosed,
- clean collection, the object of which are financial documents (promissory notes and drawn bills, cheques, assignments, other documents that are the basis for payment, e.g. cash receipt).
Depending on the method and time of payment for collection documents, the following types are identified:
- cash collection (payable immediately, at sight, D/P - Documents against Payment), where the bank surrenders documents to the payer in exchange for payment of the amount indicated in the collection instructions,
- acceptance collection (D/A - Documents against Acceptance), where the bank surrenders to the payer documents concerning goods after acceptance of a drawn bill payable at a later date, while payment is made at a deferred date (the bank keeps in its files the accepted drawn bill to collect its value on the payment date).
Depending on the bank's role in the transaction, the following types are identified:
- export collection, where Bank Millennium is the seller's bank,
- import collection, where Bank Millennium is the collecting and/or presenting bank.