Zach Selch explains how the U.S. Export-Import Bank guarantees payment on large export deals, typically worth half a million to millions of dollars. You can't approach the bank directly; you need a broker. Set up a broker relationship before you need it.
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I'm in Lima. I don't know if you've ever used the EXIM Bank. Basically, the Export Support Bank. It's federally funded and federally guaranteed. And the idea is to help you be a little bit more flexible with your customers in case you're not positive if you're going to get paid. Or let's not put it that way. You need some credit. You need to make sure that you're going to get paid. Your customer wants credit. that you can't afford to give them. And so you can go to the bank and they will guarantee you, basically give them the name of the customer that you're selling to, they will check them out. If they feel comfortable with it, they will then basically tell you that they will pay you if the customer doesn't pay you within the timeframe they're supposed to. So now when have I used this and when is it best to use it? For big deals, million-dollar deals, half-million-dollar deals, multimillion-dollar deals. And typically with organizations like banks, are very large hospital chains, are very large companies that feel that they can get away with not paying the way normal people pay. And you recognize that. Sometimes the government will say, well, you know, everybody else is paying with an LC. I'm not going to do that. I'm a government. Suck it up if you want to do business with me. And then Ex-Im Bank can help you because you might not feel comfortable extending that kind of credit even to a government because you might not be able to afford to have the government come back and say, well, I'm going to pay you a year late. And governments sometimes do that. Or you might be doing business with a very large hospital chain or a very large corporation or somebody like that, and you're just not comfortable extending the type of credit they want. And that's exactly what Ex-Im Bank is for. Every city has brokers. Every major city in America has brokers. You can find a broker online. You can find a broker by reaching out to the bank. I don't think you can deal directly with a bank. That's not been my experience. But you find a broker. Now, what I'd also recommend is find yourself a broker before you need it, because when you need it, you're going to be a little bit more stressed out. Get— make yourself a relationship already with somebody who can help support you when that— when the time comes. Remember, when you're ready to grow your international sales, reach out to us. We can help.
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