Users of commercial documentary letters of credit will soon discover an efficient alternative. Paperless presentations against letters of credit have long been a dream of the buyers and sellers who use them and the banks that issue and examine them. Besides the nuisance of manually examining paper, conventional letter of credit processing has the unintended consequence of tying up the documents that are often needed for carrier release and customs clearance. Faster transit times and a shift from paper to electronic documentation by carriers and customs authorities increase the need for a better system.