Payments Warming up

Ex. 1. Discuss the following questions.

1. What types of payments can the customers use?

2. What type of payments have you used? When?

3. What should be done in case of overdue payment?

Ex. 2. Read the following dialogue between Rachel, the owner of a small business and her business account manager and find out the ways of international payment. Practice the dialogue with your partner.

Account manager: Ah, Rachel, good to see you again. What can I do to help you?

Rachel: Well, as you know, I run a small company manufacturing children’s clothes. I’ve recently increased production, and I’m very happy with my sales figures. What I’d like to know is if I can make and accept payments in foreign currencies.

Account manager: There shouldn’t be a problem. We have an extensive foreign correspondent bank network so funds can easily be transferred worldwide.

Rachel: So this bank is part of a network of foreign banks?

Account manager: That’s right. The advantage is that payments can be made and received quickly and efficiently and at the lowest cost to you and your suppliers and purchasers. You can do this by wire transfer – it’s the fastest and safest way to transmit money around the world. Using our services, you can send international wires in foreign currency. You pay lower fees and you reduce risk because you lock in the exchange rate and know the full cost of the transaction before the wire is sent.

Rachel: How exactly does this reduce risk?

Account manager: Currency exchange rates fluctuate, so if you send a wire in sterling, you won’t know the exact exchange rate applicable when the wire is received and the funds converted into the foreign currency. You could find yourself under or overpaying your supplier. Using the supplier’s currency may also mean you can negotiate more favorable pricing of materials.

Rachel: What happens if a foreign customer wants to pay by cheque?

Account manager: We offer foreign currency cheque conversions for a wide range of countries. We can even offer Next-day credit for many countries, so you don’t have to wait weeks for the cheque to clear. All you have to do is complete a foreign cash letter agreement and send it, along with the cheque and a deposit slip, to our foreign cheque processing centre.

Ex. 3. Speak on the given topic.

Imagine you are the business account manager. Give the advice of the most efficient ways of international payment.

Language input

Ex. 4. Sometimes you may need to call a customer, in English, to ask where the money is! The following phrases will help you to deal with this situation.

You	You
I’m sure you know why I’m ringing. Then why didn’t you tell us earlier? You realize that payment is now overdue? You know that you’ve exceeded your credit limit? Our agreement was quite clear concerning payment. I’m only concerned the promises are kept. I don’t think I like your attitude.	I’d like your payment to be made without any more delay. We don’t want to have to take the matter any further. We’ll be able to process your orders as soon as your payment comes through. I look forward to immediate payment, then. Thank you. Good bye.
The customer	If the problem is very serious you may have to end the call with
It’s because – of defects in your product; – of errors in your invoice; – you sent the wrong items.	We may have to consider legal action.

Ex. 5. Study the following numerical expressions and symbols which will help you in reading business documents.

07/09/1959	The seventh of September 1959 (BrE) The ninth of July 1959 (AmE)	37 %	thirty seven percent
1959	Nineteen fifty-nine	@	at sign
1900	Nineteen hundred	.	dot (howard@yahoo.com – howard at yahoo dot com)
2011	(The year) two thousand and eleven	/	slash / stroke
1/8	one eighth	\	backslash
1/4	a / one quarter	( )	brackets
1/3	a / one third	[ ]	square brackets
½	a / one half	-	dash
3/4	three quarters	_	understrike
2.36	two point three six	:	colon
0.125	(nought) / (zero) point one two five	;	semicolon

Ex. 6. a) Practice saying the following.

0.15 %; Invoice No. H345/5 – L45; ½ of the profit; $2,560,600;

esl@gmail.com

b) Use the numerical expressions and symbols in your own sentences.

Ex. 6. a) Read the text and number the lines in the correct order.

__ can borrow it, and in doing so they issue certificates of debt. These certificates are called

__ obtain money through taxation or through borrowing. When a government borrows, it

__ them. A person who buys a bond expects, over time, to recover the principal (the amount

___money). Corporations also have two means of raising money (apart from profits). They

___ Governments and corporations need money in order to operate. Governments can

___bonds. As with government bonds, interest is paid to the buyer. The second way for a

__ issues bonds, or certificates of debt. These certificates pay interest to the people that buy

__ company to raise money is to issue stocks, which represent ownership in the corporation.

__ of the loan) plus the interest (the fee the government pays the lender for the use of the