can be transferred to the second beneficiary at the request of the first beneficiary only if it expressly states that the letter of credit is "transferable". A bank is not obligated to transfer a credit. It can further be transferred to more than one alternate beneficiary as long as it allows partial shipments. The terms and conditions of the original credit must be replicated exactly in the transferred credit. However, to keep the workability of the transferable letter of credit, some figures can be reduced or curtailed, including: Amount Unit price of the merchandise (if stated) Expiry date Presentation period Latest shipment date or given period for shipment. The first beneficiary may demand from the transferring bank to substitute for the applicant. However, if a document other than the invoice must be issued in a way to show the applicant's name, in such a case that requirement must indicate that in the transferred credit it will be free. Transferred credit cannot be transferred again to a third beneficiary at the request of the second beneficiary. In some cases, the middleman does not want the buyer and supplier to know each other. The middleman is entitled to substitute his own invoice for the supplier's and acquire the difference as profit. Operational function Typically, after a sales contract has been negotiated, and the buyer and seller have agreed that a letter of credit will be used as the method of payment, the Applicant will contact a bank to ask for a letter of credit to be issued. Once the issuing bank has assessed the buyer's credit risk – i.e. that the Applicant will be able to pay for the goods – it will issue the letter of credit, meaning that it will provide a promise to pay the seller upon presentation of certain documents. Once the Beneficiary (the seller) receives the letter of credit, it will check the terms to ensure that it matches with the contract and will either arrange for shipment of the goods or ask for an amendment to the letter of credit so that it meets with the terms of the contract. The letter of credit is limited in terms of time, the validity of credit, the last date of shipment, and in terms of how much late after shipment the documents may be presented to the Nominated Bank. Once the goods have been shipped, the Beneficiary will