Lloyds Bank and Maersk have announced the completion of a digital trade transaction using embedded structured data.

According to the bank, the transaction delivered 100 per cent data extraction accuracy and accelerated the end-to-end transaction process.

The transaction, facilitated in collaboration with tech providers Enigio and Cleareye.ai, saw Lloyds and Maersk create a digital Sea Waybill with embedded structured data aligned to the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (KTDDE) framework.

The framework aligns vocabulary across 36 of the most frequently used trade documents and, although it is not a full data model for each type of document, it promotes the usage of embedded standardised and structured data to allow for enhanced machine-readability.

The digital Sea Waybill was used in support of a shipment of tea from Kenya to the UK.

Lloyds, Enigio and Cleareye.ai said that they will now look to work with the ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) through their KTDDE implementation working groups to operationalise the framework across a wider range of documents.

The bank said that this forms part of efforts to further accelerate the adoption of straight through digital processing, to drive enhanced and more efficient customer outcomes

"Frameworks only gain real value through implementation, and we need to develop, test, and refine in order to see it applied widely," said Pamela Mar, managing director of the digital standards initiative at the International Chamber of Commerce. “This proof of concept does exactly that – by putting KTDDE in operation. It’s an important step forward, not just in validating the framework, but in proving that seamless, data-driven trade is no longer a future aspiration but a real enabler of digitalisation today.”

Surath Sengupta, head of transaction banking products at Lloyds said that the transaction marks a significant milestone in the bank's journey towards integrating digitalisation and automation for clients.

"By using structured data, we promote document standardisation from the outset, making them fully machine-readable and minimising the need for manual intervention throughout the transaction," added Sengupta. "This exciting development highlights our commitment to innovation and efficiency in trade finance and we look forward to continuing this important collaboration."

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