DBS teams up with StanChart in new trade finance venture

Transactions need to be simpler.

Standard Chartered Plc is working with DBS Group Holdings Ltd. on developing distributed ledger technology for trade finance in Singapore, in a bid to make such transactions simpler and more transparent, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The banks have successfully tested the technology with each other, and will invite other companies into the system next year, Shirish Wadivkar, head of payables, receivables & flow FX at Standard Chartered and Lum Yin Fong, DBS’s global head of client management and implementation, said on a call with Bloomberg on Thursday. Estimates on development costs aren’t available yet, they said.

In pursuing the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, Standard Chartered and DBS are developing a new approach that could improve the trade finance business by speeding up banking transactions, while cutting costs and boosting transparency. This is the world’s first application of distributed ledgers in trade finance, the banks said in an e-mailed statement also released Thursday.

Read more here.