Windward Eases Trade Finance Due Diligence With Maritime Data

Windward, which provides artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for the maritime industry, rolled out Container Insights to offer in-the-moment screening and monitoring of containers and Bill of Lading (BOL) verification. The functionality enhances Windward’s present Cargo Insights offering, according to a Wednesday (July 21) announcement.

Container Insights optimizes and bolsters the efficiency of screening workflows for trade finance transactions, according to the announcement. As it stands, just over half of the $12 trillion dollars of seaborne trade is transported by the way of containerized goods, according to the announcement.

“Risk insights for containers of interest and BOL verification are essential for any entity that deals with global trade to understand the full picture of who they’re conducting business with,” Windward CEO and Co-founder Ami Daniel said in the announcement, who noted that the firm is rolling out new functionalities, growing its data sets and continually revamping its behavioral models.

Container Insights offers data and tracking information on shipping containers while linking the container to ships, places and entities. As a result, users can keep tabs on the location of a container, its status, its expected estimated time of arrival (ETA) and its scheduled ETA in the moment.

Moreover, the technology offers an “independent validation capability for BOL verification and with insights on the actual delivery status, stakeholders can ensure critical transaction steps,” according to the announcement.

As PYMNTS previously noted, trade finance has always been a topic of debate regarding its roles in international trade and safeguarding the financial wellness of firms. It is an undeniably essential way to power international growth and support the world economy, yet it is far from a perfect instrument.

Traditionally, trade finance has been caught in a web of paperwork, creating slow bottlenecks and friction at almost all points of the workflow from onboarding to financing payouts.