GSBN partners with HSBC-backed Contour for blockchain trade finance – Ledger Insights

Container transport blockchain, the World Delivery Enterprise Community (GSBN), has partnered with Singapore’s Contour, a blockchain commerce finance platform. The alliance goals to allow environment friendly financing for shipped items. 

Hong Kong-headquartered GSBN is backed by main gamers within the transport business, together with container shippers China’s COSCO and Hapag Lloyd, and port operators PSA and Hutchison Ports. Contour is funded by 9 international banks, together with BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, ING, and Commonplace Chartered.

Exporting items generally is a dangerous course of. As soon as the products are loaded on a container ship, the vendor loses management. Therefore ceaselessly, exporters require Letters of Credit score Letter of Credit score (LC) wherein the client’s financial institution ensures that the client can pay for the content material within the transport container on the agreed time. If the client is unable to finish the fee, the LC financial institution will cowl the prices. 

Issuing LCs manually is a posh and inefficient course of. It includes appreciable paperwork, varied intermediaries and there are alternatives for fraud or errors. The Covid-19 pandemic additional highlighted the necessity to digitize these processes and restrict the necessity for face-to-face contact in commerce transport preparations. Contour’s resolution points LCs digitally on blockchain. 

In the meantime, GSBN’s first blockchain resolution is for Cargo Release. Very similar to Letters of Credit score, releasing cargo at a port includes many events and appreciable paperwork. That’s as a result of there’s a significant threat of theft by handing over the products to the mistaken celebration. The method includes backwards and forwards between transport traces, consignees, their brokers and the port terminal. GSBN mentioned it cuts cargo launch from 2-3 days to 1-2 hours by eliminating handbook processes. 

By way of the partnership, the 2 options shall be interoperable. This can allow purchasers similar to importers, exporters, logistic service suppliers and monetary establishments to streamline finance and provide chain operations in transport. 

“Immediately’s international transport business is struggling to maintain up with the rising complexities of provide chains, markets and economies. Digital transformation is essential to addressing these challenges, however this will solely be achieved by breaking down the totally different silos within the provide chain,” mentioned GSBN CEO Bertrand Chen. “This partnership with Contour breaks down one other silo by connecting the bodily provide chain to the underlying monetary system. This can pave (the) approach for extra trusted collaboration between market members, in addition to a extra environment friendly and resilient international provide chain.”

Contour makes use of R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain, whereas GSBN makes use of Hyperledger Cloth.

GSBN was included in Hong Kong as a non-profit earlier this 12 months, after nearly two years engaged on regulatory approvals.