Blockchain firm we.trade announced today (July 2) that it has facilitated its first real-time trade transactions on its blockchain platform. A press release issued by we.trade to PYMNTS said 10 companies executed trades using four banks, all facilitated by we.trade’s infrastructure, which uses IBM‘s Blockchain Platform and Hyperledger Fabric technology. The solution uses smart contracts to facilitate trading, the firm noted.
We.trade is the culmination of a joint-venture between nine banks in Europe, first announced last year, with a focus on cross-border corporate trade and transacting.
“The we.trade platform is a live, blockchain-based trade platform. These transactions prove that we.trade is a robust and commercially viable proposition,” said we.trade COO Roberto Mancone in a statement. “We are delighted to have launched, for the first time in the world, a blockchain-based platform that enhances the overall customer experience when trading internationally. The next step will be getting buy-in from additional banks and their customers in Europe and further afield.”
He added that the we.trade platform demonstrates the collaboration build between banks and trading partners. On we.trade’s board is Omer Ahsan, who serves as head of customer propositions at HSBC. In another statement, Ahsan said that three of HSBC‘s clients completed trades last week using the platform. One client, Fluid Pumps, completed an open account transaction with one if its customers in Finland, while GPS Food Group used the platform for an inter-company transaction that used a bank payment undertaking, as well as two open account transactions with one of its partners, Paragon Quality Foods.
“These transactions are a great example of how HSBC is innovating to meet our clients’ needs,” said Ahsan. “HSBC is at the forefront of developments to make trade faster, safer and cheaper for our clients. Our work with we.trade is another example of how we’re actively leading the industry to digitize trade and trade finance.”
IBM GBS Blockchain leader Parm Sangha noted that we.trade is moving out of pilot phase and into working solutions. Its platform, said Sangha, “demonstrated the power of blockchain technology in an enterprise setting.”
In addition to its existing operations across Europe, we.trade noted its plans to expand across the continent and in other markets around the globe as it adds new bank partners.
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