Barclays Completes Blockchain Trade Finance Transaction

A big bank trade finance trial has borne fruit.

Barclays

reported today that two partners (agriculture co-operative Ornua and food product distributor Seychelles Trading Company) were able to successfully transfer trade documentation via a blockchain platform created by its accelerator program graduate, Wave.

The Israel-based startup graduated from the TechStars FinTech accelerator last fall, at the time indicating it was using custom technology on top of a blockchain to facilitate the transfer of trade documents.

In statements, Barclays head of trade and working capital Baihas Baghdadi said the project confirms that adding multiple parties to a distributed ledger system can remove one of the biggest "headaches" associated with global trade, the movement of the paper documents that track and authenticate the transactions.

Baghdadi said:

"That is why we’ve been very keen to partner with Wave in using blockchain technology to save time and money for our clients, and potentially transform trade finance for businesses around the world."

The announcement follows news that a number of major banks are testing applications of blockchain in the global supply chain.

In August alone, banking consortium R3CEV revealed 15 of its members had participated in a trade finance trial, while Bank of America and HSBC reportedly embarked on a similar effort.

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