How to protect yourself?

Always ask the seller to fax you the drafts of all the papers which are supposed to be sent to the bank. Check them carefully. Most of the shipping lines have online tracking system, where by entering the container number you can see when the cargo actually left the port and to which destination. If all looks acceptable, ask the seller to issue the originals and send copies to you by fax or e-mail. By B/L number you can always trace any shipment.

It is a good idea to ask your bank (opening bank) to send you the copies of the documents received. You can check them before the bank pays the seller.

You can include other papers to be presented to the issuing bank: inspection reports issued by an independent inspection company, all kind of documents issued by the official organisations of the exporting country etc.

In today’s world, it’s not so much that we carry our money around with us as we expect our money to follow us around everywhere we go. It’s not enough to write a check at the grocery store, we also want to know our balance before we spend. It’s not enough to merely whip out a credit card or debit card at the dry cleaners, we want to choose which bank account we use to pay with. And we don’t want to pay bills just at our kitchen tables anymore; we want to pay them when we’re riding the train into work each day too.

To accomplish all of this bank’s have had to turn to mobile telecommunication devices. Most financial institutions have been furiously writing software that makes their financial services available on these devices so they can compete with each other. The result has been that you can do your banking with just about any national bank or Savings and Loan and make purchases, receive account alerts, make deposits, transfer money, and even complete very complex investment transactions all on your cell phone.

And with the proper cell phone and bank applications, it’s possible to go for a long time without even seeing cash. If your paycheck has already been automatically deposited into your bank account, and you’ve been paying your recurring bills via your bank’s online bill pay program, you’ve probably not been using much cash anyway. But with the newer applications on the drawing board, you’ll be able to use your cell phone for purchases even easier than your credit cards – even less reason to carry cash.

All of this has turned your cell phone into a digital wallet and made it the true focal point for banking mobile. In fact, if you’ve received even just one account alert on your cell phone or looked up your balance just one time, you’ve been using mobile banking services without even knowing it. Welcome to the future.