Irish blockchain platform, we.trade has announced a collaboration with IBM in a bid to enhance and speed up the global commercialisation of the platform. The platform also announced that IBM has joined it as its new shareholder along with 12 other existing bank shareholders.
The Dublin-based blockchain platform has been built on the IBM Blockchain Platform and is backed by banks including CaixaBank, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group, HSBC, KBC, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale, UBS and UniCredit.
“No other distributed-ledger based platform for trade has moved so rapidly to deliver value for member organisations and their customers,” said Ciaran McGowan, CEO, we.trade. “The enthusiasm for this platform underscores the need to continue to invest and expand access to a growing number of organisations.”
Established in 2017, we.trade aims to boost the trade finance lending process as well as assist companies in their growth and expansion. It also automates trade finance processes, provides traders with access to insurance, credit rating and logistics services.
The company is planning to expand its services to clients across Europe and Asia.
“The strategic direction for we.trade and IBM is focused on driving growth and transparency across the entire trade ecosystem, collaborating to enhance the network effect of blockchain, and expanding access to trade finance and other services to the market place,” said Jason Kelley, GM Blockchain Services, IBM. “Innovative technology and new pricing structures will help more banks align to internal production controls using their choice of cloud services. Meanwhile we.trade aims to help banks create new trusted trade corridors and expand markets by interconnecting with other regional trade services platforms.”
Source IBSintelligence