DBS completes first digital trade financing settlement on Networked Trade Platform

The trade relates to a $3.5m letter of credit transaction between Audi Singapore and Premium Automobiles.

DBS Bank has successfully completed the first trade financing transaction on Singapore’s Networked Trade Platform (NTP) in collaboration with Audi Singapore (Audi) and Audi’s local distributor, Premium Automobiles (Premium). The inaugural trade relates to a $3.5m letter of credit transaction for a trade of Audi cars between Audi and Premium.

By digitalising the process through the NTP, Audi and its retail partner Premium now have the capability to submit bank applications, as well as send and receive trade documents online. This enables DBS to receive and start processing the e-applications in real-time, cutting short the trade financing processing time from about a week to under one working day, yielding greater operational efficiencies for both buyer and seller. In addition, as trade documents are uploaded onto the NTP, all trade participants are able to enjoy real-time updates on the progress of their transaction, enabling them to better plan their working capital needs.

The first transaction marks a critical step towards transforming documentary trade, of which domestic letters of credit constitute around US$150b of Singapore’s trade flows. DBS, Audi and Premium are currently working on the second trade on the NTP valued at $2.8m.

DBS is also one of the key banks leading the Trade Finance Compliance (TFC) initiative, which is a digital service on the NTP to boost trade security in Singapore. Launched in September 2019, the TFC service aims to tackle trade finance compliance challenges by addressing obstacles faced by financial institutions when financing trade in Asia, such as trade fraud risks and the lack of reliable data to conduct price checks for non-commoditised goods – which often do not have established pricing benchmarks.