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The Marco Polo Network
The Marco Polo Network is one of the fastest growing trade and working capital finance networks. It is a joint undertaking with technology firm TradeIX, working with enterprise software firm R3, the world’s leading financial institutions, and their corporate clients. The Marco Polo Network also includes constituents of the wider trade ecosystem such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) providers and logistics companies.
Launched in 2017, the Marco Polo Network is facilitating trade and working capital finance solutions between banks and their corporate clients creating better customer experience and seamless data integration, while reducing costs, time and risk. It is powered by open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Corda blockchain technology. The TradeIX Platform is integrated with the Marco Polo Network.
The Marco Polo Network provides mutual benefits for financial institutions and their corporate clients and elevates the delivery and management of trade and working capital finance solutions. Marco Polo’s approach is unique — by working with leading financial institutions and harnessing collective expertise, together we have developed a trade and working capital finance network through a collaborative co-creation model of the members.
The Marco Polo Network is different than any other trade finance consortium:
- It has the largest number of bank members
- It includes members operating in Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East
- It is not a destination application
- It is focusing on any size corporate client and has a global focus
- It is flexible with modular trade and working capital finance services and solutions
- It is open to the full trade ecosystem
- It is open for any size banks
If you want to be part of the Marco Polo Network as a participant or as a bank member, to grow your business, become more competitive and work in collaboration with other corporates, financial institutions or members of the wider trade ecosystem, 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 The Marco Polo Network
The Marco Polo Network is one of the fastest growing trade and working capital finance networks. It is a joint undertaking with technology firm TradeIX, working with enterprise software firm R3, the world’s leading financial institutions, and their corporate clients. The Marco Polo Network also includes constituents of the wider trade ecosystem such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) providers and logistics companies.
Launched in 2017, the Marco Polo Network is facilitating trade and working capital finance solutions between banks and their corporate clients creating better customer experience and seamless data integration, while reducing costs, time and risk. It is powered by open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Corda blockchain technology. The TradeIX Platform is integrated with the Marco Polo Network.
The Marco Polo Network provides mutual benefits for financial institutions and their corporate clients and elevates the delivery and management of trade and working capital finance solutions. Marco Polo’s approach is unique — by working with leading financial institutions and harnessing collective expertise, together we have developed a trade and working capital finance network through a collaborative co-creation model of the members.
The Marco Polo Network is different than any other trade finance consortium:
- It has the largest number of bank members
- It includes members operating in Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East
- It is not a destination application
- It is focusing on any size corporate client and has a global focus
- It is flexible with modular trade and working capital finance services and solutions
- It is open to the full trade ecosystem
- It is open for any size banks
If you want to be part of the Marco Polo Network as a participant or as a bank member, to grow your business, become more competitive and work in collaboration with other corporates, financial institutions or members of the wider trade ecosystem, 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 are members of the Marco Polo Network. These include leading commercial banks such as ING, Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank, NatWest, Natixis, Bangkok Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, OP Group, SMBC, DNB, Danske Bank, and LBBW. The International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) encompassing over 170 members is also part of the Marco Polo Network acting as an observer.
The principal focus of the Marco Polo Network is adding new bank members and their corporate clients creating better bank and customer experience and seamless data integration, whilst reducing costs, time and risk.
The focus is for banks to provide trade and working capital finance solutions to their corporate clients and the opportunity to distribute trade assets and data with other members. Other parties in the trade ecosystem can join the Marco Polo Network as participants including ERP providers, credit insurers, B2B networks, logistics companies, service and payment providers.
$400 Million
Expected spending from banks on distributed ledger technology by 2019.
(Source: McKinsey & Company)
Marco Polo Network: Benefits.
The current financial and IT systems that support global trade are antiquated, siloed, and manually intensive, injecting significant costs, 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 finance and manage trade and working capital. The Marco Polo Network addresses the critical challenges in today’s trade finance ecosystem:
- Lack of standards and interoperability give rise to disconnected trade systems that do not speak to one another.
- 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 manage and finance trade assets and working capital from multiple sources.
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.
The Marco Polo Network provides the following benefits:
- Cost Mutualization – Working in the Marco Polo Network allows to mutualize costs across many members and participants, as opposed to costs being born by one/few parties.
- Risk Reduction – Data on Corda blockchain is mutable, verifiable by all parties within the trade ecosystem. Corda is built specifically and is better suited for regulated financial institutions.
- Network Effects – Solving structural technology issues in trade requires strong network effects. The Marco Polo Network provides the critical mass necessary to drive self-sustaining network effects.
- Collaboration – Collaboration and sharing of expertise and emerging technology components will drive creativity and efficiency across the industry to solve industry-wide problems that can never be solved unilaterally.
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
The Marco Polo Network is a joint undertaking, with technology firm TradeIX working with enterprise software firm R3 and a network of the world’s foremost financial institutions. Learn more by contacting us here.
One Trade Finance Initiative, Two Solutions.
The Marco Polo Network is offering solutions for financial institutions to optimise their trade finance offerings as well as their corporate clients. The Marco Polo Network is a collaborative initiative focusing on the delivery and management of trade and working capital finance.
Marco Polo delivers the production of three open account trade finance orchestrations in Q1 2019, enabling participating banks to connect seamlessly with their trade finance customers and partners to transact. The trade finance orchestrations include Receivable Discounting, Factoring as well as Payment Commitment with and without financing. In 2019, Marco Polo will deliver additional trade finance modules such as Guarantees, Payables Finance, Asset Based Lending, Trade Asset Distribution.
Working Capital Finance App
The Working Capital Finance App helps customers reduce administrative costs and risks in using trade and working capital finance solutions as well as having access to a wider range of funding opportunities. The Working Capital Finance App, developed by TradeIX leverages blockchain technology by R3 and open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
TIX Platform
The platform also manages critical cross-platform services such as tasks and alerts, compliance, analytics, reporting and 3rd-party integrations.
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 Network: Objectives
The scope of the Marco Polo Network is to create an innovative, secure and interoperable market for banks, their corporate clients and the wider trade ecosystem.
The Marco Polo Network connects financial institutions and millions of corporate clients of all sizes via ERP-embedded Working Capital Finance Apps and dedicated trade finance solutions, thus creating the world’s largest trade finance network.
The Marco Polo Network includes a robust suite of trade-specific APIs and technology tools, modules and applications, a sophisticated rules engine, and an open, standard core infrastructure for trade data, contracts, and transactions.
The Marco Polo Network aims to provide cutting-edge trade and working capital finance solutions to meet the needs of all members and participants across multiple geographies, supporting the continued growth of open account trade with a focus on the following principles.
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.”
Nikolaus Giesbert
Divisional Board Member, Fixed Income, Currencies
& Commodities and Trade Finance & Cash Management
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?
[email protected]
+44 203 287 0744