Lloyds Bank makes first digital trade transaction on WaveBL platform

By Gloria Methri

Lloyds Bank has completed its first transaction using an electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) on the WaveBL trade documentation platform. This cross-border deal featured entirely digital documentation exchanges.

The transaction involved a Somerset-based building material supplier, Paull’s matting, who imported material from an Indian Coir Exporter headquartered in Kerala.

The Bill of Lading for the transaction was issued by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) as an eBL through WaveBL and passed through the exporter’s bank – Federal Bank – to Lloyds Bank. The two banks are working jointly to explore opportunities to digitise further transactions between their customers.

The use of the eBL reduced the transaction completion time, cost, and risk of key papers being lost. It also removed the administrative burden of creating, handling, and despatching paper documentation for all parties.

Bills of Lading are critical documents in international trade. They are issued by a carrier when a seller dispatches goods to an end customer and acts as a ‘receipt’ for the goods being shipped. Once payment—or an agreement to pay at a future date—for the goods is received, the Bill of Lading is released to the buyer so they can claim the product on arrival.

Through WaveBL, Lloyds Bank’s clients can securely and seamlessly transfer fully digital eBLs based on blockchain – which helps verify original versions of the document – between organisations on the WaveBL network.

Rogier van Lammeren, head of trade and working capital products at Lloyds Bank, said, “Together, the eBL and the dPN have eradicated the need for any physical paper to change hands. This has meant a faster transaction, which helps shorten parties’ working capital cycles, with less risk, at lower cost and with significantly less admin for the businesses involved. We’re looking forward to helping more companies take advantage of the significant benefits digital trade offers.”

Ofer Ein Bar, VP of Financial Institutions at WaveBL, stated, “The WaveBL platform boasts a proven track record in managing electronic trade documents, with over 500,000 electronic Bills of Lading issued via our platform since its inception. Utilizing eBLs and other electronic trade documents in a presentation to banks seamlessly extends our trade digitalization initiative. We’re proud to lead this effort jointly with Lloyds and Federal Bank.”