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What Is an IOU?

Sep 29, 2022

What’s an IOU?

The meaning of “I owe you” is straightforward: it indicates that someone has a debt to someone else.

To be more specific, IOUs are statements that work as promises that a part will repay a debt by a certain due date.

The particularity of IOUs is that they’re usually not legally binding. Sometimes, it can even take the form of a verbal agreement instead of a written document. However, parties may choose to add to the IOU more details that would make them more easily enforceable in case of issues.

In any case, IOUs are far more informal than, for instance, promissory notes – as we will see later, and legal agreements. This characteristic of IOUs prevents them from being negotiable, so they can’t be transferred or sold to anyone else.

Knowing the meaning of IOU may not address your doubts. If it’s not legally binding, why is it used? Traditional businesses and people involved in a debt relationship usually produce IOUs as an informal note or reminder that a part is in debt with the other. This usually happens when the parties know or trust each other to avoid excessive risks. For instance, they can be used when someone wants to pay a large order for his business at a later date.

Of course, this involves less bureaucratic stuff, making it easier for parties to assess the nature of debt after, for instance, a meeting or in sight of a specific investment that has to be urgently made.

So, the usefulness of IOUs relies on simplicity and immediacy, differently from official documents.

Example of IOU written note.

With the rise of cryptocurrencies, the crypto market also included this kind of statement – but with its own characteristics.

How an IOU Works in Crypto

Blockchain-based IOU tokens work exactly as IOUs notes, but they’re far more practical for keeping track of debt relationships.

The meaning of “I owe you” is fully respected, but people can use tokens to represent and settle debts instead of exclusively relying on verbal or written agreements.

IOU tokens represent a more convenient way to benefit from the flexibility of blockchain technology, and can also involve smart contracts to generate and trade IOU tokens and get back lent assets.

To see how it works, let’s analyze a practical example.

Example of an IOU

As mentioned, the crypto market allows individuals and companies to benefit from the advantages of I Owe You notes, but with the intuitive and flexible characteristics of blockchain technology.

Let’s see a case where two parties, X and Z, enter a debt relationship. X needs 1 Bitcoin, and Z is willing to lend the amount required – maybe because he firmly believes in X’s entrepreneurial projects.

The two are using peer-to-peer lending, so they are totally free to set their own conditions and don’t need to pay service fees linked to intermediaries.

So, X shares his wallet’s address with Z, and Z deposits one Bitcoin. X generates IOU tokens that represent his debt position and deposits them in Z’s wallet. In this way, Z knows exactly what’s the amount involved in this P2P lending operation and can easily require the payments by exchanging his IOU tokens and getting BTC in return. IOU tokens are also useful for setting the real value that must be repaid to the creditor, especially in cases where the cryptocurrency used for the loan can rapidly gain value.

IOU – How it works in the crypto market.

It’s important to note that not all centralized exchanges support IOU tokens. Lenders and borrowers may thus need to use decentralized exchanges, and in that case, it’s necessary to use decentralized wallets and take particular care of their seed phrases and keys.

Special Considerations

We’ve already mentioned the reasons why IOUs can be useful, but let’s recap those reasons and see cases in which individuals and companies may prefer them:

Due to the flexibility of IOUs, parties can set their own terms and conditions for this sort of informal contract;
They’re pretty intuitive and don’t need all the bureaucratic practices necessary in cases of legal agreements;
They can be used by anyone in all those situations in which a debt relationship needs to be addressed;
They’re extremely useful in cases of peer-to-peer lending – also avoiding dealing with banks and intermediaries. Actually, the peer-to-peer lending market managed to reach a value of almost $113 billion in 2021, proving its benefits for companies and individuals.

Moreover, even if they’re not always legally binding, IOUs can be integrated with companies’ balance sheets as debt instruments – both short and long-term, according to the details set by parties.

IOU vs. Promissory Note

Both IOUs and promissory notes have to do with debts and the promise to repay a debt by a specific date. Nevertheless, promissory notes are considered more serious for the simple reason that they are more detailed than IOUs.

That’s why they can sometimes be considered negotiable instruments.

Promissory notes usually indicate more details – not only the parties involved and the due date to repay the debt, but also details about interest rates, the total amount of money, possible penalties, and the size of each repayment if the parties agree upon payment by installments.

Moreover, promissory notes might accompany more official and legal agreements like mortgages, so they’re usually easily enforceable.

IOU (I Owe You) vs. Promissory note – Examples

IOU FAQs

What Is an IOU in Finance?

IOU stands for I Owe You, and it can be either a verbal or written agreement that represents a debt relationship between two parties. IOUs are now available also in the crypto market, and they work thanks to IOU tokens.

What Is an Example of an IOU?

Let’s say that an individual needs some money for a project. Instead of dealing with banks and other intermediaries, he enters a debt relationship with a lender. They produce a written note where they indicate their names, the amount involved, and the repayment date. This is an example of an IOU.

How Do I Write an IOU?

There aren’t specific guidelines for writing an IOU, and the content can be different. For instance, some IOUs can indicate the parties and the amount of the debt, and some can indicate the parties involved, the amount, and the due date.

Is an IOU a Legal Document?

No, IOUs are not legal documents, and they’re not legally binding. They work more as notes and reminders to clearly address possible debt relationships. However, if they’re detailed enough, they can be legally enforceable.

Does an IOU Need to Be Notarized?

No, it’s not necessary. However, some people and companies prefer to notarize IOUs to make them more official and easily legally enforceable.

The Bottom Line

Even if quite risky, IOUs are useful in all those cases in which the parties involved in the loans need more flexible and easy solutions to define a debt relationship.

“I Owe You” are used by parties who trust each other, maybe because they are involved in an ongoing business relationship or by those who want to easily loan and borrow money without needing complex bureaucracy and intermediaries.

This need makes IOUs perfectly fit the approach preferred by those who use blockchain technology, and that’s why the crypto market created new ways to produce and exchange IOUs by using blockchain-based IOU tokens.

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