IBM has become a shareholder in trade-finance block-chain based platform we.trade, owned by 12 European banks.
IBM owns the Hyperledger-based IBM Blockchain Platform that we.trade is built on and 7% of its IP, along with CaixaBank, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group, HSBC, KBC, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale, UBS and UniCredit.
Ciaran McGowan, we.trade’s CEO commented:
Now we’ve got a very strong partnership with IBM for scaling globally and we are working closely together on Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Back in 2018, we.trade was the first enterprise blockchain consortium to go live. Group of banks founded the platform to help European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) get better access to trade finance. IBM has been a technology partner of the project from the beginning.
The platform’s CEO has expressed that we.trade’s plans to work in conjunction with other distributed ledger-based trade finance networks, such as Hong Kong’s platform eTradeConnect, formed by 12 Asian banks.
we.trade aims to automate many trade finance processes and provide traders with access to insurance, credit rating and logistic services. The network allows traders to initiate orders, manage the order-to-payment process and attain financing, as well as to search and find new trading partners.
The platform’s goal is to improve the trade finance lending process and support companies in growing their business and reaching new markets.
Jason Kelley, GM Blockchain Services, IBM, commented:
Jason Kelley
The strategic direction for we.trade and IBM is focused on driving growth and transparency across the entire trade ecosystem, collaborating to enhance the network effect of blockchain, and expanding access to trade finance and other services to the market place. Innovative technology and new pricing structures will help more banks align to internal production controls using their choice of cloud services. Meanwhile we.trade aims to help banks create new trusted trade corridors and expand markets by interconnecting with other regional trade services platforms.
Experienced writer and journalist, working in the global online trading sector, Steffy is the Editor of LeapRate. She has previous experience as a copywriter and has been with the company since January 2020. Steffy has a British and American Studies degree from St. Kliment Ochridski University in Sofia.
