Payment Risk Checklist

Importers, exporters, traders, finance teams, and sourcing teams · Before accepting deal terms or releasing payment instructions

Risk warnings

Do not accept payment terms until identity, bank details, screening, release triggers, document control, cash exposure, and dispute path are written down.

Verify the legal entity, trading name, beneficiary name, bank country, registered address, tax or company number, and authority of the person issuing payment instructions.
Screen the counterparty, beneficial owners where available, bank country, shipment country, and intermediaries for sanctions, restricted-party, and high-risk country exposure.
Choose the payment method by leverage and trust level: TT deposit/balance, staged payments, letter of credit, CAD, D/P, D/A, open account, escrow, or another controlled structure.
Write down the risk split between buyer and seller so everyone knows who carries prepayment, production, shipment, document, credit, and non-delivery risk.

Set deposit percentage, balance trigger, shipment trigger, inspection trigger, document trigger, and release conditions before the PO or proforma is approved.
Require out-of-band callback verification for bank details, bank country, beneficiary account, and any account-change request before money moves.
Control the document set tied to payment: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or transport document, certificates, inspection report, and any LC or collection wording.
Check supplier-performance evidence before payment, including sample approval, production status, inspection outcome, shipment readiness, and who pays for rework or delay.

For sellers, assess buyer-default risk after shipment, including credit limit, payment history, country risk, document release timing, and whether credit insurance or LC control is needed.
Model cash-flow impact, working-capital lockup, FX exposure, bank fees, LC or collection charges, delayed clearance, and payment delay before accepting the structure.
Define the dispute path, claim evidence, stop-payment window, document-hold option, escalation owner, and fallback if goods, documents, or funds do not match terms.
Require stronger controls or reject the structure if identity is unclear, sanctions risk is unresolved, bank details changed, payment pressure is high, documents are weak, leverage is low, or downside exceeds the margin.