In banking, the term “reimbursement credit” [rãbu:r-] refers to the form of acceptance credit based on cross-border trade in goods. This refers in particular to the participation of a bank in the settlement of an overseas goods transaction, which in some cases is linked to the granting of credit, the reimbursement credit explained here.

General information

The involvement of a bank in the payment of an overseas transaction in goods may, in certain cases, be linked to the granting of a credit in the form of a reimbursement credit. Documents for a return transaction are freight and insurance documents, possibly also invoices and corresponding inspection certificates for the imported weight and quality of the goods.

basic form

The basic form and also the most important type of reimbursement business is a so-called exchange rebourship. The bank of the importing company accepts the draft of an overseas seller. It is essential that the importer obtains the necessary credit from his bank before concluding this import transaction, especially if the counterparty, i.e. the exporter, demands a rebourship confirmed by the bank. In this case, the bank accepts the draft from the designated seller against the delivery of the described documents. Because of the long time it would take to send the documents and draft and return the draft accepted by the bank, the overseas seller hands over the documents, draft and secondary and primary copies to his overseas bank, which discounts the secondary and primary copies together with the documents of the importer’s financial institution and sends them in for acceptance. Prima and Sekunda are redeemed at the same time, they are both subscribed with the note on the underlying repo transaction. On the due date, the redemption is then carried out by the the referring bank. The debit of the bank customer for the delivery of the acceptance is carried out on a special rat account, the value is one day before its due date.

Modified form

The bank accepting the Rambours, also called the Rembour Bank, does not have to be one of the banks from the importer’s country. It will usually be a financial institution that has its seat in the country that, in this day and age, has the most represented world trade currencies. The acceptance fee transaction is then settled in approximately the following manner: A bank from the country of the currency of the invoices accepts a bill of exchange drawn on the bank of the importer for the account of the bank of the importer or for the account of the importer himself. In return, the draft is handed over to the shipper against receipt of the prescribed transport documents so that the shipper can discount it at his own bank. The London banks and the New York banks are equivalent to the contract guarantees generally used in foreign exchange trading. Your acceptances can be accommodated at particularly favourable conditions. Rembour banks often arrange for the accommodation of the acceptances themselves and then make the proceeds available to the shipper. However, this is a special business relationship. The credit granting bank (Remboursbank) only has the task of accepting further it does not provide any services.

Distinction from the letter of credit

The reimbursement credit is often confused with a letter of credit or used as its synonym. The reimbursement credit, however, is clearly recognisable as a bank loan for all parties involved. In the case of a letter of credit, the recipient cannot recognise that it is a credit granted to the principal. The reimbursement credit itself is the special form of an acceptance credit. It uses the bank product only as part of a new financial instrument. In the case of a reimbursement loan, the goods documents must be presented to the reimbursement bank as security.