more transparent and better connected.
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Watch videoIntroducing Marco Polo Trade Finance Initiative
Smarter, more transparent and better connected. Marco Polo is one of the fastest growing trade finance business networks. It is a joint undertaking with trade finance technology firm TradeIX, working with enterprise software firm R3 and a network of the world’s leading financial institutions.
Launched in 2017, Marco Polo is focusing on a Trade Finance Platform built on an interoperable business network powered by open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and blockchain technology.
Marco Polo provides mutual benefits for financial institutions and their corporate clients and elevates the delivery and management of trade finance solutions. Marco Polo’s approach is unique — by working with leading financial institutions and harnessing collective expertise, together we have developed a Trade Finance Platform leveraging blockchain technology that raises standards for an interoperable business network. If you want to be part of Marco Polo, to grow your business, become more competitive and work in collaboration with other financial institutions and corporate clients, please contact us.
Volume:
$40 Trillion
%
90% of North American & European banks exploring blockchain (source PWC)
Accounts:
$8 Trillion
%
50% of banks are working with a technology company to augment their blockchain capabilities (Source: Let’s Talk Payments)
Receivables:
$3 Trillion
%
30-50% , the potential cost savings on compliance. (source: Accenture)
Introducing Marco Polo Trade Finance Initiative
Smarter, more transparent and better connected. Marco Polo is one of the fastest growing trade finance business networks. It is a joint undertaking with trade finance technology firm TradeIX, working with enterprise software firm R3 and a network of the world’s leading financial institutions.
Launched in 2017, Marco Polo is focusing on a Trade Finance Platform built on an interoperable business network powered by open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and blockchain technology.
Marco Polo provides mutual benefits for financial institutions and their corporate clients and elevates the delivery and management of trade finance solutions. Marco Polo’s approach is unique — by working with leading financial institutions and harnessing collective expertise, together we have developed a Trade Finance Platform leveraging blockchain technology that raises standards for an interoperable business network. If you want to be part of Marco Polo, to grow your business, become more competitive and work in collaboration with other financial institutions and corporate clients, please contact us.
Volume: $40 Trillion
%
90% of North American & European banks exploring blockchain (source PWC)
Accounts: $8 Trillion
%
50% of banks are working with a technology company to augment their blockchain capabilities (Source: Let’s Talk Payments)
Receivables: $3 Trillion
%
30-50% , the potential cost savings on compliance. (source: Accenture)
Leading Members.
Numerous financial institutions have joined the Marco Polo Trade Finance Initiative. These include leading commercial banks such as BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, ING and Standard Chartered Bank. The International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) encompassing over 170 members is also part of Marco Polo acting as an observer.
The principal focus of the Marco Polo Initiative is adding new bank members. Offering trade finance solutions to their corporate clients and the opportunity to distribute trade assets and data with other members. In a second stage starting in 2018, other participants in the trade ecosystem will be introduced including credit insurers, B2B networks, logistics companies, service providers, and payment networks.
$400 Million
Expected spending from banks on distributed ledger technology by 2019.
(Source: McKinsey & Company)
Market opportunities.
The current financial and IT systems that support global trade are antiquated, siloed, and manually intensive, injecting significant cost, risk, and friction into trade processes for all parties involved.
These disconnected, inefficient systems place hard limits on trade finance solutions, lead to a poor client experience, and restrict the ways, companies, and markets facilitate and finance trade. Marco Polo addresses the critical challenges in today’s trade finance ecosystem:
- Lack of standards and compatibility between financial institutions, their corporate clients, technology and value-added providers.
- Disconnected, siloed trade systems that do not speak to one another
- Little visibility into critical data from trading parties
- Slow, inflexible and costly client integrations with legacy solutions
- No efficient way to originate trade assets from multiple sources and distribute these assets to other financial institutions.
Members Thoughts:
- “We are very pleased to join Marco Polo and we believe that Blockchain technology will have a considerable impact on the future of trade finance. Working together with innovative technology companies and other banks will make us more relevant for our customers. The proof of concept was a success and now we are ready to plan a pilot.”
– Sylwia Lisowska, Head of Product and Distribution at DNB Factoring.
Marco Polo Trade Finance Initiative provides the following benefits:
- Access to Corda’s Blockchain technology with unique capabilities for trade finance solutions.
- Collaboration with, financial institutions and technology providers exchanging best practices and develop standards.
- Access to the next generation Trade Finance Engine enabling interoperability with rules and standards.
- Reduced Operational risk through enhanced operational efficiency. And improved transparency and security.
- Access to standards and APIs allowing members to integrate with internal and external systems easily.
- Superior audit and compliance through the provision of forensic audit trail and improve transparency and tracking of trade assets.
Members Thoughts:
- “The age of digital collaboration in trade finance has arrived and we see our participation in this initiative as an important component to accelerate this and drive financing deeper into global supply chains. This in turn enables greater avaibility of financing for small and medium enterprises.”
– Michael Vrontamitis, Head of Trade, Europe & Americas, Standard Chartered.
- The tests we ran as part of the proof-of-concept enabled us to see the value this solution could deliver in three separate areas of trade financing. The technology ran fast and smoothly and the positive results showed us we were on the right track and ready to take the next step by entering into a pilot.”
– Chris Sunderman, Global Blockchain Initiative Lead for Trade Finance at ING.
Marco Polo Members at R3 Conference London 2017
Marco Polo is a joint undertaking, with trade finance technology firm TradeIX working with enterprise software firm R3 and a network of over twenty of the world’s foremost financial institutions. Learn more about these two organisations using the links below. Learn more about these two organisations using the links below.
One Trade Finance Initiative, Two Solutions.
Marco Polo is offering solutions for financial institutions to optimise their trade finance offerings. Marco Polo is the collaborative project umbrella supporting the delivery of an Interoperable Network and the Tix Platform.
Marco Polo will deliver the production of three open account trade finance orchestrations in Q4 2018, enabling participating banks to connect seamlessly with their trade finance customers and partners to transact. The trade finance orchestrations will include Receivable Finance with and without buyer approval, Factoring and 3-way matching of a purchase order, invoice and shipment details.
Interoperable Network
TIX Platform
Members Thoughts:
- “This was a significant milestone in the project and a step in the right direction for the future of open account trade finance using the TradeIX TIX Platform and Corda DLT.”
– Eric Henry, Head of Innovation Trade Finance & Supply Chain, BNP Paribas.
- “We are the first bank to successfully perform the proof-of-concept acceptance tests which is a major achievement for us. We are pleased with how far the development has come in such a short timespan. Together we have proved, that blockchain technology will make trade finance, faster and more transparent for all participants.”
– Nikolaus Giesbert, Divisional Board Member,
Fixed Income & Currencies, Trade Finance & Cash Management, Commerzbank AG.
Marco Polo: Objectives
The scope of Marco Polo is to create an innovative, secure and interoperable market offering to banks for pre- and post-shipment trade finance solutions. This includes a robust suite of trade specific APIs and technology tools, applications, a sophisticated rules engine, and an open, standard core infrastructure for trade data, contracts, and transactions.
The project aims to provide cutting-edge trade finance solutions to meet the needs of all members across multiple geographies, supporting the continued growth of open account trade with a focus on the three principles below.
Transparent
Smarter
Connected
News and Resources
“Together with R3, other bank members and TradeIX, we aim to bring trade and supply chain finance business to the next evolutionary stage.”
Bernd Laber
Group executive Trade Finance & Cash
Management Corporate Clients,
Commerzbank
Contact
Message us
Information
Would you like to speak to us about the Marco Polo blockchain initiative for trade finance or know more about how you can join?
contact@marcopolo.finance
+44 203 287 0744