
INTERNATIONAL TRADE 413
pay cash on receipt of the goods, if not in advance. On the other hand, the importer usually
expects the exporter to extend credit. When extending credit to the importer becomes inevi-
table, the exporter may wish to have the importer’s promise of payment, backed by a bank.
In other words, the exporter may like to have an undertaking by a bank for the payment
of goods sold on credit to the importer. Such an undertaking is called the banker’s letter
of credit or simply the letter of credit. A banker’s letter of credit (L/C) is an instrument
or letter issued by a bank on behalf of, and for the account of the buyer or importer ...