Payment Security

Pacific Blue is committed to ensuring your money & product is completely secure throughout the whole process.

How we keep your money safe:

To instil confidence and trust to both Buyer and Seller, all payments, be they initial part deposit, or complete payment transactions, are placed in Escrow and overseen by an internationally registered independent Escrow agent. This is to ensure both parties have complete security and control of their funds until all obligations by both Buyer and Seller have been met.

What is Escrow:

Escrow is a financial arrangement where an authorised third party holds and regulates payment of the funds required for two parties involved in a given transaction. It helps make transactions more secure by keeping the payment in a secure Escrow account, which is only released when all of the terms of an agreement are met as overseen by the Escrow company.

Escrow transactions can be safely carried out without risk of losing money or merchandise due to fraud. This means that if, for any reason, the transaction could not go ahead, your money can only be returned back to you.

Our appointed Escrow agent is Schoenholz (with offices in both New York and Bangkok). They are fully authorised & experienced in handling commodity trades including sugar contracts. They are licenced under the Commercial Banking Act 1962. Civil and Commercial Code 805, permitting holding of funds prior to purchase of land, property and commodities - section 1686 of Civil and Commercial acts of trusts.

Payment Procedure & Schedule:

Upon signing a Sale and Purchase Contract the Seller requires a formal purchase order from Buyer.
The signed contract and Purchase Order is presented for approval to an independent authorised Escrow agent.
Once the sale is accepted by the Escrow agent, an agreed payment(s), accompanied by the signed contract, is placed by Buyer into Seller’s appointed Escrow agent’s bank account.
Seller/Seller’s representative then pays Escrow fees and Performance Bond (PB) to Escrow agent’s account.
For a usual sales contract, the Escrow agent will manage the sales process through to final completion.

Our Independent remittance / escrow agents , ( in republic of Ireland , USA, and SE Asia ) will, within 72 hours of the contract signing, make direct contact with Buyer/Agent and Seller/Agent to ensure all aspects of the sales transaction process, including the security of funds and obligations of both Seller and Buyer are managed in a clear and transparent manner.
At this stage, the Escrow agent will receive the insurance payment/documents (value to 110% of order), from Seller/Seller’s agent.
The financially secure and confirmed sales package is then presented to all Refineries/Mills who have made the provisional qualifying offer. Acceptance of Buyer’s contract may come from one or more Refinery/Mill.
Once the offer is accepted signed and returned it is processed by the independent financial company who will then issue a invoice for payment, as soon as this is received and approved by the supplier all documents will be issue to the buyer / his broker or intermediary if there is one.
Sugar production of Buyer’s order is then commenced.
When completed and cargo is ready to set sail at time of loading, all SGS reports and certificates including Bill of Lading (BOL) are issued in Buyer’s name and presented to Buyer by Escrow agent.
The Escrow agent will then advise Buyer which beneficiary bank the outstanding balance payment will be made to (normally Refinery/Mill but sometimes Seller’s agent).
Before vessel departs to destination port(s), the Escrow agent transfers the Buyer’s initial Deposit payment to the Seller.
The outstanding balance payment, paid by SWIFT MT103 – or financial instrument (LC/SBLC) – as per contract terms – must originate from a verified and approved bank.
The outstanding balance payment(s), is then paid/activated and Seller draws down the agreed balance payment. (Note any claims must be made direct with the Escrow agent).
Escrow agent refunds the PB to the Seller’s agent.

Credit and Crypto Payments:

We welcome and accept L/C , DLC. and SBLC. However both the applicant and the bank where the instrument is issued need to be verified. This means they both have to be checked for credibility and viability. We need information on both. If you are unable to provide basic information on buyers and banks, (which is a standard request on all credit applications), we or our sellers cannot approve the credit application instrument. This is a basic requirement on all credit applications.

We Prefer to have payments made by SBLC (again,subject to bank standing and credibility) but we will accept D/LC if the buyer provides a 3-5% bond as insurance. We have also recently gained the ability to take payment using crypto-currencies using a Q code which is available on request - we accept Bitcoin, Etherium, Tether, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, BSV and LTC Lite Coin.

The Seller may cancel the contract if the funds from the Buyer are discovered to contravene UN trade agreements and dubious sources of funds (i.e. trade in arms/weapons, breaches of UN trade sanctions, money from illicit operations, drugs, people trafficking, or money laundering). Poor credit or credibility reference is not a source for cancellation, however the Seller many request additional interim payments or security on the balance.

Visits to ports for loading inspection are mostly possible. However the permits and visa’s are at the responsibility of the Buyer. Please note a working visa not a tourist visa is often required, along with port and customs clearance. In standard supply line allow 7-14 days for all visa’s and permits to be produced. Please be aware for fast turnarounds it's unlikely paperwork will be completed in time.

IP/IP Transfer

We can now offer - through one of our partners - the ability to perform server to server IP/IP transfers. This method requires a face to face meeting with our finance team. ALL transactions for this method are through the European Central Bank direct to Tier 1 global banks only.

Other payments accepted

MT103 manual transactions

MT103 / codes / 202

GPI Automatic with UETR Code

GPI Semi-Automatic with UETR Code

GPI MT103 direct cash transfers

GPI Manual Download with UETR code

KTT - Telex Transfer ( for those without SWIFT facility)

L2L - Ledger to Ledger transfers