Palestine Trade Center

Banks finance trade activities primarily through the provisioning of direct and indirect credit facilities.

Direct Credit Facilities
Direct credit facilities constitute financing tools as overdraft facilities and loans with specific repayment schedules. Overdraft facilities provide the client with a ceiling that may be exploited as required. In turn, the client is committed to deposit money in the overdraft account covering the overdraft ceiling with no fixed repayment schedule. Overdraft facilities are annually renewable by the bank depending on the cash flow activity of the account. In addition to overdraft facilities, banks offer loans with specific repayment schedules.

Indirect Credit Facilities
Indirect credit facilities are financial transactions that do not require direct cash but are essentially documents against cash. Banks normally cover up to 20 - 35% of the value of the import through indirect credit facilities and often either grant direct credit facilities or request from the client to cover the remaining part of the value of the imported goods. Indirect credit facilities financing trade mainly comprise letters of credit (L/C) and bank guarantees. Although letters of credit, particularly irrevocable, are the safest means of payment for both the exporter as well as banks, it is not compulsory to open a letter of credit unless the traders negotiate to open one.

Requirements and Procedures
The Client is required to provide the bank with the following documents:

After receiving the required documentation, the credit application undergoes the following procedures:

Should the client meet the above mentioned procedures, the client is required to provide the bank with collateral, such as a cash deposit, third party guarantee and/or mortgage depending on the amount and terms of the credit facility.

The time cycle required to process the credit facility varies according to the credit amount and the bank-client relationship.

Cost of Borrowing
The cost of borrowing comprises the interest rate (direct credit facility), commission fees and sometimes other related administrative fees. The cost of borrowing varies according to bank and currency. With respect to exports, the bank charges only a confirmation fee on the payment received by the Palestinian exporter.

Bank Name	Regional Manager	Telephone (00972)	Fax. (00972)	PO Box
AlAqsa Islamic Bank	Naser Tahboub	02- 2407150/8	02-2407159	POBox 1260 El-Bireh
Arab Bank PLC	Mazen Abu Hamdan	02- 2982400	02-2982444	P.O.Box 1476 Ramallah
Arab Islamic Bank		02- 2407060	02- 2401819	P.O.Box 631 El-Bireh
Arab Palestinian Investment Bank		02-2987126	02- 2981725	POBox 1268 Ramallah,
Bank of Jordan	Mohamed Shaker	02-2952702	02-2952705	P.O.Box 1328 Ramallah
Bank of Palestine Ltd.	Hani Alshawa	08-2843059	08-2846025	POBox50, Gaza
Cairo-Amman Bank	Joseph Nisnas	02-2983503	02-2952763	Ramallah Palestine
Commercial Bank of Palestine	Anis Al-Hajjah	02-2954144	02-2953888	POBox1799, Ramallah
Development & Agricultural Credit Bank	Abbas Abdel Hady Abbas	08-2864174	08-2827746	POBox4011, Gaza
Egyptian Arab land Bank	Fou'ad Jabir	02-2958421	02-2958425	POBox1565, Ramallah
The Housing Bank for Trade & Finance	Mohammad El Bargoti	02-2986270/3	02-2986275/6	POBox 1437, Ramallah
HSBC Bank Middle East	Issa Kassis	02-2987802/3	02-2987804	POBox 2067, Ramallah,
Jordan-Kuwait Bank	Nidal Anabtawi	09-2376413	09-2377181	POBox 33, Nablus
Jordan National Bank	Hanna Ghayyas	02-2959343	02-2959341	POBox 550, Ramallah,
Jordanian Commercial Bank	Yasser Kadusi	02-2987680	02-2987682	POBox 1881, Ramallah,
Palestine International Bank	Osama Khader	02-2983300	02-2983321	POBox 3636, Ramallah
Palestine Investment Bank	AbdelQader Al Qadi	02-2407880	02-2407887	POBox 3675, Al-Bireh
The Palestine Islamic Bank	Salem As-sabbah	08-2827360	08-2825269	POBox1244, Gaza
AlQuds Bank for Development and Investment		02-2961751	02-2961753	POBox 2471, Ramallah
Union Bank for Saving and Investment		02-2986412	02-2986416	POBox 1557, Ramallah