'We used to pay in advance during the time of the Messenger of Allah and Abu Bakr and 'Umar, for wheat, barley and dates, paying people whom we did not know if they had those things or not.'''Ibn Abza said meaning, similarly. (Using translation from Nasāʾī 4614)  

كُنَّا نُسْلِفُ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ وَأَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ فِي الْبُرِّ وَالشَّعِيرِ وَالتَّمْرِ إِلَى قَوْمٍ لَا أَدْرِي أَعِنْدَهُمْ أَمْ لَا وَابْنُ أَبْزَى قَالَ مِثْلَ يَعْنِي ذَلِكَ