Sterling Bank provides financing under programs of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and by working with private credit insurers.

Export-Import Bank of the United States

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is an independent U.S. government agency that facilitates financing of U.S. exports. Ex-Im Bank offers a wide variety of programs that cover up to 100% of the U.S. export value of transactions with terms between 3 months to 7 years.

Sterling Bank provides financing to U.S. exporters or foreign importers/buyers at competitive interest rates and terms under the following Ex-Im Bank programs:

Working Capital Guarantee Program
Sterling Bank is a Delegated Authority Lender under the Ex-Im Bank Working Capital Guarantee Program. This means we can internally process and quickly approve most pre-export financing requests without having to obtain approval from Ex-Im Bank.

Single Buyer/Multi-Buyer/Small Business Insurance Policies
Ex-Im Bank provides a variety of insurance policies to support U.S. exporters' open account and unconfirmed letter of credit sales for goods and services to overseas buyers. These policies cover periods of up to 1 year depending on the goods exported, and are designed to mitigate political and commercial risk for foreign sales, enhance competitive terms for foreign sales, and enable financing of foreign receivables. Customers who need financing for foreign receivables may qualify for a loan/line of credit by assigning their Ex-Im Bank insurance benefits to Sterling Bank.

Medium-Term Insurance/Guarantees
Ex-Im Bank also provides coverage for periods of between 1 and 7 years to U.S. exporters to cover open account sales of capital goods and services to overseas buyers. These are made available either through insurance policies or guarantees to banks, allowing the exporter to be paid up front and have Sterling Bank provide the necessary financing to the foreign buyer. The exporter benefits by being able to offer competitive terms on sales of capital goods. Sterling Bank benefits in that it receives 100% political and commercial risk coverage from Ex-Im Bank (after an obligatory 15% down payment by the buyer).

Supplier Credit Guarantee Program
The Commodity Credit Corporation, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, enables U.S. agricultural commodity exporters to provide open account sales of up to 180 days to foreign buyers. Sterling Bank may be assigned the CCC guarantee and thereby provide financing for a portion of each shipment.

U.S. Small Business Administration

Sterling Bank is also certified as a preferred lender by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), an independent U.S. federal agency. It's preferred status enables Sterling Bank to provide faster loan application processing by streamlining the traditional SBA loan approval process. SBA's Export Working Capital Guarantee loans are suitable for businesses that receive purchase orders from overseas buyers. These loans provide the necessary working capital to enable the exporter to complete the sale.

Private Credit Insurance

Private credit insurance carriers often tailor policies for exporters who need financing tied to their export sales. These exporters may then obtain financing by assigning those policies to Sterling Bank. The use of private credit insurance for financing is designed for individuals transacting short-term sales for goods that do not meet the Ex-Im Bank's "51% or more U.S. content" criteria, and for sales to countries not covered by the Ex-Im Bank. Highly rated private insurance carriers include the Foreign Credit Insurance Association (FCIA), American International Group (AIG), American Credit Indemnity (ACI), and Lloyds of London.