A consortium which includes seven of Europe’s largest banks has selected IBM to build and host a new trade finance platform based on IBM Blockchain, powered by Hyperledger Fabric.

The platform is designed to simplify and facilitate domestic and cross-border trade for small and medium enterprises in Europe, while helping to increase overall trade transaction transparency.

IBM was selected by the Digital Trade Chain Consortium which consists of Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Societe Generale and Unicredit.

The Digital Trade Chain solution will run in the IBM Cloud and is designed to connect the parties involved in a trade transaction, both online and via mobile devices. It is designed to simplify trade finance processes by addressing the challenge of managing, tracking and securing domestic and international trade transactions.

Rudi Peeters, CIO of KBC, speaking on behalf of the consortium, said: “To make the Digital Trade Chain network a reality and enable it to serve potentially thousands of the consortium’s banking clients, we turned to IBM in enterprise blockchain to help us quickly bring this highly scalable system into production.

“Their blockchain and banking industry expertise will help us create a new platform for small and medium businesses in Europe that can enable them for faster, easier and cheaper trade transactions.”

By addressing the financing gap of small and medium enterprises (SME) – a traditionally underserved market segment – the solution is anticipated to help open new revenue streams and initiate new trading relationships and foster trade growth.

The platform will also aim to increase access to financing by infusing cross-border trade transactions with accountability and transparency.

Marie Wieck, general manager of IBM Blockchain, added: “In working with hundreds of clients around the world on a diverse range of blockchain projects, trade finance has emerged as one of the strongest use cases for the technology. By addressing the SME market, which faces challenges in data sharing and access to capital, the Digital Trade Chain consortium is pioneering a unique blockchain solution with the potential for widespread impact.”

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