It is defined as:
1. A person who wants to purchase goods but has no money, may agree to accept a bill of exchange drawn upon him at some future date for the value of the goods he want to purchase. For example, Mr. Jacky (a retail trader) wishes to purchase furniture from a furniture manufacturer (Mr. David) but has no money. Mr. David is agreed to sell furniture for a 90 days credit worth US$ 10,000.
2. The drawer (Mr. David) draws a bill for US$ 10,000 on the customer (Mr. Jacky), the drawee, who accepts it (thus becoming the acceptor of the bill) and returns it to the drawer. The drawer delivers the furniture and has a 90 days bill for US$ 10,000.
3. He can keep the bill till due date and present it on the due date before the acceptor.
4. When a drawee (the acceptor) acknowledges the obligation in the bill he is bound by law to honor the bill on the due date. If he is reputable person the bill is as good as money, and any bank will discount it. There are special kinds of banks which do this job and they are called discount houses. What do the discount houses do? , The cash the bill by giving the drawer the present value of the bill.
Present value = Face value of the bill – interest at an agreed rate for the number of days the bank has to wait.
So the drawer who discounts the bill with the bank gets less than the face value.
5. On the due date the bank will present the bill to the acceptor, who honors it by paying the full value. The bank has earned the amount of interest it deducted when it discounted the bill.