It is important to ensure quick and reliable payment processes for importers and exporters to enable them to carry out their business without apprehension. After all, many of them take loans and credit from the government authorised institutions to get into the business and perform a very important role in helping the country's economy to grow. If they cannot get their dues in a swift and reliable manner, they would not feel encouraged to continue this business and that would only affect the country.
One such payment mechanism that is safe and ensures that the seller gets his due payment on time is the Escrow payment service. This service drastically minimises the risk factor of dealings between the importer and the exporter by mediating the transaction and holding the funds to be released at the appropriate time and only when all conditions are met as per the import export documentation and agreement between the parties concerned. The services are provided by specific agents trained and authorised to carry out these transactions.
Such a service is ideal for low to medium valued deals where the usual payment systems of working through the letter of credit negotiated by banks and other financial institutions are not viable. They are particularly effective for dealings at auction sites and where the value of the transactions is not very high.
It is also used for transactions when both the buyers as well as the sellers are new to each other and are dealing with each other the very first time. It is natural that the trust level during such times is quite low and going through the Escrow payment service is the best way to build mutual trust and confidence so that in future, they can move away from this system and try the conventional modes of payment. By that time, the business volume as well as value of transactions may also go up warranting a bank letter of credit.
One more area where this kind of a payment service is used is when exporters send samples to the importer for approval before they can ship the actual material. Some cost of the samples needs to be recovered and can be done through this service. Software exporters can also make use of this payment method for their services in providing source codes or domain oriented services.
Exporters prefer receiving payment through the Escrow payment service rather than through the credit card due to the absence of any chargeback' where they would lose some money. From the importer's perspective, making payment to an unknown exporter is also fraught with some risk and that is why this system of an intermediary negotiating the entire deal and ensuring payment becomes very important.