A service provided by banks to sellers in obtaining payments. This service is usually transacted by the seller's bank through the buyer's bank, with the latter presenting the shipping documents to the buyer in exchange for payment or for signing a promissory note like instrument called a time draft.

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Does your company do business with trustworthy partners were documentary letters of credit would seem to be superfluous, yet at the same time you don't want to carry out transactions with no security at all? Then documentary collection may be exactly what you are looking for. This is a classic documentary payment instrument used in both domestic and foreign trade in most countries round the world. Documentary collection guarantees the vendor that submitted documents and/or goods in the case of documents of title are not released to the buyer without the buyer meeting set terms of collection.

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Note added at 52 mins (2008-02-26 12:23:10 GMT)
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http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/business/needs/expanding-overseas/...