Rollercoaster Swap

Rollercoaster Swap

Any swap in which payments to the counterparties vary at different times. Rollercoaster swaps are most common among companies with highly seasonal sales. Receiving higher payments and giving higher payments at different times helps the counterparties meet their financing needs on a year-round basis, when they likely could not do so on sales alone. For example, an ice cream company and a winter coat company may enter a rollercoaster swap in which the ice cream company pays more to the winter coat company in the summer and the opposite occurs in the winter.