Payment method employing a bill of exchange

A method of effecting payment in a commercial transaction wherein a product is traded from a seller to a buyer, the method comprising generating a bill of exchange by a computer, the bill of exchange being issued by the seller, being accepted by the buyer, being payable to the order of the seller at a first financial institution at a certain future date related to a triggering event recited in the bill of exchange, being drawn on the buyer at a second financial institution, and becoming a negotiable instrument that is negotiable without reference to the commercial transaction upon occurrence of the triggering event, and wherein the method comprises:

• (a) originating the bill of exchange from an originator, by the computer, the originator being a party which is not the seller;
• (b) signing of the bill of exchange by the buyer prior to issuance of the bill of exchange;
• (c) signing of the bill of exchange by the seller after the bill of exchange has been signed by the buyer;
• (d) issuing of the bill of exchange by the seller, by the computer, after the seller and the buyer have signed the bill of exchange;
• and
• (e) negotiating the bill of exchange, by the computer, after issuance and on or after occurrence of the triggering event, to effect payment for the traded product;
• wherein the bill of exchange comprises mutually extinguishable first and second bills of exchange, wherein a subsequent financial institution originates a sole bill of exchange based on the collateral provided by the first bill of exchange before the triggering event and accepts the sole bill of exchange prior to signing of the mutually extinguishable first and second bills of exchange by the seller, wherein the sole bill of exchange is drawn upon the subsequent financial institution in exchange for payment from the buyer under either the first bill of exchange, the second bill of exchange being unpaid, or the second bill of exchange, the first bill of exchange being unpaid.