NatWest signs up to trade finance network Marco Polo
NatWest joins other global banks in the network, which uses blockchain technology to provide real-time transparency to trade finance transactions.
NatWest joins other global banks in the network, which uses blockchain technology to provide real-time transparency to trade finance transactions.
NatWest is the latest bank to join Marco Polo, a trade finance platform that uses blockchain technology to streamline business trading.
Marco Polo is coordinated by financial technology firms TradeIX and R3 in an initiative designed to collaboratively apply emerging blockchain technology to the global trade finance market.
Banks including BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, ING, Standard Chartered Bank, Natixis, Bangkok Bank, SMBC, DNB and OP Financial Group are also signed up to the network.
The mandate from members of Marco Polo is to better serve trade customers’ needs by converging the physical, information and financial supply chains with digital trade data to enable easier access to credit, minimize risk and increase transparency through a global digital platform.
Marco Polo is built around R3’s Corda blockchain technology and APIs developed for the global trade ecosystem. It enables banks to integrate into trade finance deals, bringing ERP, procure to pay, logistics, and payment and insurance data into transactions in real time.
Rowan Austin, head of trade & working capital product at NatWest said: “We want to leverage distributed ledger technology for our clients and the best way to achieve this is through global collaboration with other financial institutions and leading technology providers.”