Cars from China are now available via the safest type of transaction

A new scheme for purchasing cars from China was tested in our market. It is a form of payment called a letter of credit. The Russian bank Sber was responsible for monitoring the fulfillment of the terms of the transaction. The importing company was Teminal A.


Unfortunately, the financial details are private. Information about the volume of the batch and the names of the brands imported cars is part of the commercial secret of both parties to the transaction.


A letter of credit is a financial instrument in which an intermediary bank blocks the buyer's funds. The money is transferred to the seller only after all the conditions of the preliminary agreement have been fulfilled.

In the context of car imports from abroad, this means that a specific car meets the following parameters:

✅ customs clearance procedure
✅ identical to the declared characteristics and equipment
✅ no damage

This approach allows minimizing all possible transaction risks for both parties. It is noteworthy that the “reduced copy” of the letter of credit form has been successfully used in other areas for some time now – on marketplaces, a popular classifieds site, and other services.

In this format, the seller receives payment for the goods only after the corresponding confirmation from the buyer at the time of receipt. The first party to the transaction also has a kind of "insurance" - the financial intermediary organization withholds the full cost of the object of sale from the client.

A letter of credit in the automotive sector may well become a standard for transactions in the current reality. In some countries around the world, this form of payment is used by default, especially when it comes to importing cars.