外貿工作中一旦涉外產品銷售，無論外貿企業所銷售的產品屬于哪一范疇之內，都必然會涉及到DP或者是信用證等，那么外貿交易中信用證風險大還是DP風險大呢?

資深外貿人對前者是這樣定義的，“It refers to a written certificate issued by a bank at the request of the importer (buyer) to ensure that the exporter (seller) is liable for payment of the goods. Within a letter of credit, the bank authorizes the exporter to draw on the bank or its designated bank for a sum not exceeding the stipulated amount under the conditions specified in the letter of credit, and to collect the payment on schedule at the designated place with the accompanying shipping documents in accordance with the stipulations.”

后者被定義為“Documents are given to your bank, and your bank sends them to the other bank (usually the bank designated by the customer). After receiving the bill, the other bank notifies the customer, and the customer pays the bill.”

從如上介紹中我們可以發現，信用證在外貿交易中其可靠性會更高一些，由于在這其中會有銀行審單等相關因素，所以安全性較高的同時，其在交易過程中所收取的費用也會更高一些。DP則不然，在這其中并沒有銀行審單等相關因素存在其中，因此交易中費用支出也會少一些，不過其可靠性將會降低。

可以看到這樣一種情況，有很多外貿企業在和海外用戶交易時總會強調采用信用證，其原因就在于這其中含有銀行信用，當交易展開之后，只要提交的單據不出現偏差，銀行就會及時交付款項。而DP則并非如此，它和商業信用有關，當行情發生較大的變動時，用戶可以選擇放棄贖單。行業中有資深交易人也這樣對其定性“The letter of credit has high security, which means that customers first apply for the issuance of the letter of credit and then deliver the goods; D/P belongs to one kind of collection, that is, you send the goods first and entrust the bank to collect the money, but if the customer does not redeem the bill, you can't. In a sense, the flow of D/P and credit documents is opposite.”通過這段闡述，我們可以知道，信用證交易過程中為什么安全性會更高一些，是因為產品購入方首先申請開證，當產品銷售方企業拿到信用證后，才會將產品運輸至用戶需求的目的港，因此在這一過程之中，產品銷售方企業幾乎不會承擔太大的風險。

如下案例：

Mr. Dells:

We are very glad to cooperate with you in business. The ceramic tile products sold by our company mainly include 5 categories and 13 small categories. The total price of your products is 3.75 million yuan. As we have cooperated with you for the first time, we hope you can send us the L/C in this transaction by mail before the agreed time. We will arrange batch production for your company, which is scheduled to be completed from April 28 to April 30. We will arrange shipment of the products to Dalian Port from March 1 to March 5, waiting for shipment by the designated vessel.

德爾斯先生：

很高興能夠和貴公司展開業務合作，本次我公司所銷售的瓷磚類型產品主要包括5大類別，13個小類貴公司所購入產品總價375萬元，首次和貴公司展開合作，此次交易中將以信用證方式展開，希望貴公司能夠在此前所約定的時間前將信用證郵寄給我方，我方會為貴公司安排批次產品生產，預計于4月28日至4月30日完成產品生產，會在5月1日到56日安排將產品運達大連港，等待貴方指定船只裝船。

該陶瓷產品銷售公司對待另外一個有合作關系的海外用戶時則采用了DP交易模式。

Mr. Hamilton

The total amount of outdoor wall tiles ordered by your company is 4 million yuan. The transportation mode of this product is the same as that of the previous one. The cost of land transportation and related insurance are in our company's charge. After the products will be transported to the Shanghai Port products designated by your company, the related risks will be borne by your company. This is the sixth cooperation between our two companies. We hope that the cooperation will be pleasant after that. This transaction is done by DP side. Formula reached.

漢密爾頓先生

貴公司所訂購的戶外墻磚共計400萬元，本次產品運輸和此前運輸方式一致，陸路運輸費用以及相關保險費用由我公司負責，產品將運輸到貴公司指定的上海港，產品上船之后相關風險由貴公司承擔，這是雙方公司的第6次合作，希望此后合作依然愉快，本次交易以DP方式達成。

從如上案例中可以發現，該外貿企業針對不同的用戶時，選擇了不同的交易模式，對待新用戶是這樣表述的，“Because of the first cooperation with your company, the letter of credit will be used in this transaction. I hope you can send me the letter of credit by mail before the agreed time.”而對待老用戶時則以“The transaction was concluded by DP.”一句話帶過，從這樣的案例中就可以發現和海外用戶交易時，如果對于對方的企業了解得并不透徹，外貿企業就必須關注到交易安全問題，在實際交易中要使用信用證方式，如果已經和海外企業有長期合作關系，并且雙方都非常信任，實際交易過程中則可以DP為主，雖然這兩種交易模式具有一定的差異性，但并非不是完全固定的，根據貿易雙方的關系不同可以在交易中隨時轉換。