By the bill of exchange the drawer orders the drawee to pay a certain sum of money to the payee. Until the drawee identifies with the text of the bill (by acceptance) he is still only a potential debtor. The situation changes only by acceptance (Article I, Section 21 - 29, BECA) which makes the drawee a direct debtor from the bill of exchange who has a duty to pay at maturity (comp. Article I, Section 28, Paragraph 1, BECA). It is logical that acceptance concerns only the bill of exchange and not the promissory note.
By acceptance the drawee becomes a receiver (acceptor) who is a direct debtor from the bill of exchange. The acceptor has a duty to pay for the bill at maturity and if he does not do so after the bill is presented, the owner (even if the drawer himself) can recover from the receiver all that can be claimed pursuant to Article I, Sections 48 and 49, BECA. The exercise of the right against the acceptor as the direct debtor is not conditioned by protesting the bill for non-payment.
If the acceptor, as the direct debtor, properly pays for the bill of exchange all rights arising from the bill are cancelled and the paying acceptor does not have a recourse relating to the bill against the drawer. There may only be general legal claims arising from his own relationships with the drawer and these cannot be put forward through a bill of exchange. If the drawee wanted to preserve recourse against the drawer he should not accept the bill and rather make use of intervention - the so-called acceptance for honor (Article I, Section 55, Paragraph 3, BECA).
An acceptance is written on the bill of exchange. It is expressed by the word "accepted" or any other equivalent term; it is signed by the drawee. The simple signature of drawee on the face of the bill is deemed to be an acceptance. An acceptance is unconditional, but the drawee may restrict it to part of the sum payable. Every other modification introduced by an acceptance into the tenor of the bill of exchange operates as a refusal to accept. Nevertheless, the acceptor is bound according to the terms of his acceptance.