Note 18. Financial Instruments With Off-Balance Sheet Risk

The Company is party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the balance sheet. The contract amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments.

The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments. A summary of the contract amounts of the Company’s exposure to off-balance sheet risk as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, is as follows (dollars in thousands):


	2019		2018
Commitments with off-balance sheet risk:
Commitments to extend credit	$	210,086	$	204,831
Standby letters of credit		15,155		5,280
Total commitments with off-balance sheet risks	$	225,241	$	210,111

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee. Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer’s credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property and equipment, and income-producing commercial properties.

Unfunded commitments under commercial lines of credit, revolving credit lines and overdraft protection agreements are commitments for possible future extensions of credit to existing customers. These lines of credit are generally uncollateralized and usually do not contain a specified maturity date and may be drawn upon only to the total extent to which the Company is committed.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those guarantees are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements, including commercial paper, bond financing, and similar transactions. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s evaluation of the counterparty. Since most of the letters of credit are expected to expire without being drawn upon, they do not necessarily represent future cash requirements.