What is a letter of Credit (LC)?

Letter of credit (LC) also known as Documentary credit is an undertaking from a bank on behalf of its customer (importer/buyer) wherein the beneficiary (exporter) is fully assured of payment provided he fulfills his part of the sale contract embodied in Letter of Credit. To understand LC mechanism, let us take an example of a…

Do you know how ISO 20022 gained supremacy over SWIFT messages?

ISO 20022 (pronounced ‘ISO twenty-oh-twenty-two’) or Universal financial industry message scheme (also called” UNIFI”) is a global standard for exchanging electronic messages between financial institutions. The ISO 20022 standard covers financial information transferred between financial institutions that include payment transactions, securities trading, and settlement information, credit as well as debit card transactions, Foreign Exchange transactions,…

Comparative Overview of CHIPS and CHAPS Payment Systems

IntroductionCHIPS (Clearing House Interbank Payments System) and CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) are prominent high-value payment systems operating in different jurisdictions. While both facilitate large-value transactions, they differ in terms of currency, geographical scope, settlement mechanism, and typical usage. 1. CHIPS – Clearing House Interbank Payments SystemCHIPS is a U.S.-based electronic payment system primarily…