Distinguish between financial documents and commercial documents in international payments

1. Financial documents in international payment
In the sale of goods, the seller delivers the goods, and the buyer pays. Therefore, money is considered a natural means of payment by law, or in other words, money is accepted as a means of payment unconditionally.
In commercial practice, there are two problems that arise:
First, the buyer does not always have the money available to pay for the goods.
Second, payments between buyers and sellers are often not made directly in cash, especially in international trade.
So, how can the seller sell the goods, while the buyer does not have money or cannot pay directly in cash. For buyers: how to buy goods, when there is no money available or can not pay directly with money.
To resolve this conflict and promote trade, suitable means of payment were created as an alternative to direct cash payments. These means of payment are actually financial assets used to pay and pay each other in domestic and international trade.
To be an acceptable alternative to money, financial assets must be regulated. In general, laws at the national as well as international levels are relatively uniform in determining which financial assets are the means of payment. That is:
Bill of exchange: is an unconditional order for money, drawn by one person to another, requiring that person, upon seeing the order, either on a specified date or on a definite future date, to pay a certain amount. certain money for someone; or at the request of one person to pay to another or to the holder of that order.
– Promissory note: written by the debtor (debtor) to promise a commitment to pay the beneficiary. In other words, a promissory note is a promissory note that promises to pay unconditionally, issued by the maker to pay a certain amount of money to a beneficiary or by order of one person to pay another person as specified in that promissory note. .
– Check: According to the Geneva Convention of 1931, a check is an unconditional order issued by a person (the holder of a deposit account), ordering the bank to withdraw a certain amount of money from his account to pay the other person. specified on the check, either to the order of this person or to the holder of the check.
Financial assets that function as means of payment are presented in the form of documents, so they are called financial documents.
So the financial documents in international payment are:
– Are documents containing payment information transferred between buyer and seller
– As evidences of legal value, as the basis for the resolution of all issues related to commercial relations.
2. Commercial documents in international payment
Commercial documents are documents related to commercial activities, including sales invoices, shipping documents, papers related to ownership of goods and other papers that are not financial documents. main. Commercial documents are necessary documents in international payment.
In general, commercial documents include:
– Transport documents;
– Insurance documents;
– Certificate of goods.
Commercial documents are documents containing information about goods, transportation, insurance, which are the basis for solving problems related to international trade relations and international payments.
Among the transport documents, the bill of lading plays a prominent role because the function of ownership of the goods and the carriage by sea accounts for 80% of the volume of international freight.
Due to the complex nature of international trade with potential risks arising from geographical distance, differences in legal systems, customs, languages, businesses and banks need to be cautious. when making and transferring commercial documents.
2.1. Transport documents
A transport document is a document issued by a ship owner or master to a shipper to confirm that he has received the goods.
The most common transport documents today include:
– Bill of lading documents when the goods are transported by sea.
– Railway bill of lading when goods are transported by rail.
– Air waybill documents when goods are transported by aircraft.
There are also multimodal transport documents; sea freight receipt.

2.2. Insurance documents
Insurance document: is a document signed by the insurer, committing to indemnify the insured. Including:
– Single insurance
– Insurance certificate
– Insurance policy covers
– Insurance card
2.3. Proof of goods
Goods documents have the effect of clearly stating the characteristics of the value, quality and quantity of goods. These documents are presented by the person and the buyer will pay upon receipt of them. The main documents of this type are commercial invoices, detailed lists, packing slips, certificates of quality. Including:
– Commercial Invoice
– Certificate of Origin
– Packing slips
– Certificate of inspection
– Certificate of acceptance of quantity and quality
– Other documents
In general, financial documents are documents that function as a means of payment and are regulated in the laws of the country and are relatively consistent with each other. Most countries’ laws regulate financial documents including: bill of exchange, promissory note and check. According to clause b of article 2, URC 552, “Document” means financial documents and/or commercial document:
1.”Financial document” means bills of exchange, promissory notes, cheques, or other similar instruments used for obtaining the payment of money
2.”Commercial documents” means invoices, transport documents, documents of title or other similar document, or any other documents whatever, not being financial documents.
Mean:
“Documents” includes financial documents and commercial documents
1.”Financial documents” include bill of exchange, promissory note, check, or other similar instrument used in the payment of money.
2 “Commercial documents” include invoices, transport documents, title documents or other similar documents, or any other document other than financial documents.