ING-founded blockchain trade finance platform launches in Singapore
Today, blockchain-based trade finance platform Contour, co-founded by ING Ventures, launched into the $18 trillion global trade finance market. Contour was co-created by ING and seven other banks in 2018 to simplify letters of credit, reducing the amount of time needed to process them from five to 10 days to under 24 hours.
Contour has established itself in Singapore as an independent network and is inviting banks and corporates to join its network
The launch follows a series of live pilots in 14 countries and a global trial with more than 50 banks and corporates. Three of these pilots were led by ING with HSBC (Cargill and Tricon) and CTBC Bank. Ninety-six percent of participants said Contour would accelerate their letters of credit process, improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
Contour uses R3’s Corda blockchain network to improve the 400-year-old process of issuing and tracking letters of credit which is largely manual, inefficient and costly.
“Contour provides a network where trusted information is shared in real-time, effectively digitalising letters of credit across all users in the transaction,” said Carl Wegner, Contour CEO.
“It is now available to provide a full commercial service to organisations looking to enhance their trade finance practices. We are now focusing on scaling the network with more banks, corporates and partners.”
