Today the major banking solution provider Finastra announced it would integrate its trade finance offering, Fusion Trade, with the Contour blockchain for Letters of Credit. The combination takes advantage of Finastra’s deep integration with core banking platforms and Contour’s decentralized multi-party network for trade finance.
“Our partnership with Finastra is an important step forward in breaking down barriers to adoption and increasing access to trade finance,” said Carl Wegner, Contour CEO.
Letters of Credit are a very document heavy form of trade finance that Contour has digitized, including integrating with most of the available electronic bill of lading (eBL) solutions. Digitizing the process saves significant time and reduces the risk of fraud.
“Finastra is focused on making it simple for our financial institution clients to connect seamlessly to the global trade ecosystem so they can maximize business efficiency and develop new business opportunities,” said Isabel Fernandez, Finastra EVP, Lending Business Unit.
Contour now has 17 international banks as network members, up from seven when it was incorporated in early 2020, with Commerzbank the most recent addition.
Last month, Contour announced it acquired the rule book and related documents from we.trade, the bank backed blockchain trade finance platform that entered insolvency. This will accelerate Contour’s expansion beyond Letters of Credit into open account trade finance.
