United Parcel Service said its UPS Capital subsidiary has launched a loan program that will allow small importers to use their in-transit UPS shipments as collateral.

The UPS Capital Cargo Finance program is tailored toward U.S. businesses with annual revenue of as much as $50 million that import as many as 10 ocean- or air-freight containers of goods per month, UPS said in a news release.  UPS said the program eliminates the need for importers to obtain letters of credit or exhaust cash flow with upfront payments to finance transactions.

Under the program, the importer pays 50 percent of the bill of lading to UPS Capital. UPS Capital then will pay 100 percent of the bill. The importer then repays UPS Capital according to the terms of the loan, typically within 60 days, according to the release.