Trade Finance Community Website The Benche Marks First Anniversary
SEB, a north European financial group, is marking the first anniversary of The Benche, its free information and networking service for members of the international trade finance community. Launched in November 2008, the community now consists of more than 2,500 registered trade finance professionals and the website attracts over 10,000 hits every month.
The Benche is a non-biased and reliable platform, supporting the transfer of information and experience through open discussion and networking between members. Experts from 192 countries have visited the site since its inception, with Sweden, the US, the UK and Lithuania, Germany and India providing the highest numbers of site visitors. The most popular areas of the site are the discussion forums and ‘Daily Trade News’, which keep the community updated about recent developments in the trade finance space.
Håkan Aldrin, responsible for The Benche at SEB, said: “The Benche has now been established as an essential source of information for the industry. Within its first year we’ve seen tremendous interest and growth on the platform, which now attracts thousands of experts to discuss the latest trends in the market. Having developed The Benche into the leading Internet platform for trade finance professionals worldwide, we’re constantly adding new content and are developing our services for members, and look forward to an even more successful and exciting second year in 2010.”