Shift from Letters of Credit to Open Account Using Electronic Supply Chain Management Tools

There has been a contraction in world trade. Importers/exporters are moving to open account, which limits bank involvement in trade to settlement. Letters of Credit is here to stay, despite the momentum of Open Account. SWIFT’s Trade Services Utility (TSU) enables banks to enhance existing services and develop new. Increased automation, lower costs, reduced risk, common XML standards and interoperability result. Three supply chains (physical, information, financial) underlie B2B eCommerce; risk shifts from bank to corporate in Open Account.