Commercial Trade Finance 
Trade Finance
Foreign Exchange
Local market expertise on international currency exchanges and holdings
Finance solutions to help you maximise your international and domestic trading potential.
Improve your cash flow by unlocking money tied up in receivables due to you or access tailored finance to fund purchases.
Looking to trade overseas for the first time?
With a wealth of experienced trade specialists in the Botswana and overseas, Barclays Commercial Bank is your ideal trade partner.
Trading overseas can be profitable, but it also involves risk. Exporters must ensure they are paid for the goods they provide and importers must receive the goods they have paid for.
Barclays Commercial Bank offers a range of solutions to help you manage risks, negotiate credit terms, win business and trade confidently.
How can Barclays support your trade?
Barclays gives answers to the three key questions of any trading business:
How do I know I will get paid?
Barclays Commercial Bank is an intermediary for payment, particularly for cross-border settlement.
We can offer greater security by providing transactional trade structures and guarantees.
How do I know I will receive what I’ve paid for?
Using traditional letters of credit and collections, you get greater transactional security than by trading on open accounts.
Barclays Commercial Bank ensures that the documentation for the transaction meets your requirements before funds are released.
How quick is payment?
Thanks to lower transaction risk and higher payment security, you can access sources of trade finance linked to your own or your partner’s trading cycle efficiently.
This can be linked to documentary trade instruments or open account trading activity.
Import Letter of Credit
When dealing with overseas suppliers, especially unfamiliar ones, there are no guarantees. Our expertise gives us a leading edge in creating solutions covering your risks to give you complete financial security.
The benefits of the import letter of credit:
- Control & Security
– Payment is made only against the documents you specify. Our letters of credit are always irrevocable and cannot be amended or cancelled without the consent of all parties involved. - The advantage of experience
– Our extensive experience puts us in a position to guide you on which documents to ask for and on wording the terms. - Enhance your bargaining position
– Negotiate longer credit periods and reduce costs with your suppliers by using the significant benefits that they gain as the basis for your negotiations. - Improve your competitive status – Display your financial credibility and enhance your competitive position with suppliers who insist on payment by letter of credit. Export Letter of Credit
Export Letter of Credit
- Improve cashflow management
– Since you receive guaranteed funds, we will simply ‘discount’ or ‘negotiate’ your bills of exchange to improve your cashflow. - Extended Payment Terms
– Your suppliers may agree to extend payment terms if you assign the proceeds of the Letter of Credit to them. This will also improve your cash flow - Hedge Currency Exposures
– Knowing the payment date, amount and currency in which the payment is to be made allows you to predict your cash flow more accurately. We can help you cove such currency exposures. - Save Insurance Costs
– Reduced risk of payment default reduces need for separate credit insurance and by simply confirming your letter of credit, we can also reduce the need for political insurance.
Import Collections
- Improve Cashflow
– By negotiating a credit period for term payment from suppliers - Enhance your bargaining power
– Negotiate the cost of the collection to be borne by supplier. - Reduce Risks
– If you are dealing with a new supplier or are reluctant to pay until the goods have been shipped, collection provides evidence. - More Security
– For greater security and control over the documents received and content, we can set up an import letter of credit. Export Collections - Enhances trading confidence
– Documents are only released upon payment or acceptance of the bill of exchange. For further security, the term can be ‘avalised’by your buyer’s bankers, wherein the they agree to guarantee payment in the event that your buyer defaults. - Improves cashflow
– The increased certainty of payment date offered by sight payment enables you to predict your cashflow more accurately. We can also trace progress of the payment, if necessary. - Receive funds in advance
– With term payment, applying to have the bill of exchange ‘discounted’ enables you to receive funds in advance of the due date. This can ease your cashflow constraints.
Online service to help buyers and suppliers manage their liquidity and maintain margins.
An internet-based service that helps buyers and suppliers to manage their liquidity and maintain their margins, while nurturing commercial relationships. Barclays Supplier Finance gives the buyer the ability to improve their payment terms and Days Payables outstanding, while the seller benefits from an accelerated payment option, offering a discounted early settlement of their trade receivables, enabling them to realise their cash quicker.
A flexible, short-term borrowing facility, linked to specific import or export transactions.
Trade Loans can be used whether you trade on an open account, collections or documentary credit basis.
You can benefit from targeted working capital finance at competitive money market rates.
A flexible short-term borrowing facility, linked to one or more specific import or export transactions.
Trade Loans can be used whether you trade on an open account, collections or documentary credit basis.
You can benefit from targeted working capital finance at competitive money market rates.
Letter of Credit Discounting
Obtain money owed to you, using a letter of credit.
Obtain money due to you under the letter of credit.
This service is for exporters who sell on credit terms and use letters of credit as the means of settlement.
Cash flow is improved because you receive payment after your buyer accepts the bill of exchange instead of having to wait until a future due date.
Invoice Finance
Access cash tied up in invoices to blue chip organisations.
Invoice Finance helps you to access cash tied up in payments that are due from quality (‘blue chip’) business counterparties.
For appropriate supply contracts, Barclays Commercial Bank buys your future dated invoices, immediately passing the value to you at an agreed discount.
Barclays Commercial Bank then collects full payment from your customer on the agreed due date.
The service covers trading both within Botswana and abroad.
