COMMITMENTS

The Company issues financial instruments in the normal course of the business of meeting the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. These instruments may involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets.

The Company’s extent of involvement and maximum potential 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 not more than the contractual amount of these instruments.

The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for financial instruments included on its consolidated balance sheets.

The contractual amounts of off-balance-sheet financial instruments as of December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2016, are as follows:



(in thousands)	December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,298,423	$	1,075,170
Letters of credit	73,790		78,954

There was an insignificant amount of unadvanced commitments on impaired loans at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016. Other liabilities include approximately $0.4 million for estimated losses attributable to the unadvanced commitments.

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 usually have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses, may have significant usage restrictions, and may require payment of a fee. Of the total commitments to extend credit at December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2016, $112.0 million and $89.7 million, respectively, represent fixed rate loan commitments. Since certain of the commitments may expire without being drawn upon or may be revoked, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash obligations. 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 borrower. Collateral held varies, but may include accounts receivable, inventory, premises and equipment, and real estate.

Letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. These letters of credit are issued to support contractual obligations of the Company’s customers. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as the risk involved in extending loans to customers. The approximate remaining term of letters of credit range from 1 month to 3 years and 9 months at December 31, 2017.