The Marco Polo Network has celebrated the conclusion of a trial for its ‘Open Account Trade Finance’ product based on R3s Corda blockchain platform with the publication of a press release on December 12, 2019.
In the release, Marco Polo states a key focus towards enhancing:
“efficiencies in trade finance, the Receivables Financing solution available on the Marco Polo Platform and the Corda Network is an integrated solution built to overcome critical trade finance challenges including lack of connectivity, inefficient processes and high ON-BOARDING costs.”
Marco Polo (press release)
Marco Polo’s platform has been built on a “completely distributed architecture” which reportedly makes “this the biggest trial on the R3 Corda Network to date” – comprised of candidates from financial and corporate institutions from over 25 countries, spanning across five continents.
The companies which took part in this programme ranged from industries such as “financial services, IT and telecoms, logistics, maritime, real estate, hospitality and some of the biggest players in the automotive industry”.
These companies have included: “ABN AMRO, Banorte, BMW, Citizens Bank, Commerzbank AG, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, SBI Holdings, SBI R3 Japan, Steelforce, SüdFactoring GmbH (A Subsidiary of LBBW), Sumitomo Corporation, the Bank of East Asia and the Saudi British Bank”
Together, these companies worked together to facilitate / trial “working capital applications developed by TradeIX with a focus on the Receivables Finance solution currently available for production use on the Marco Polo Platform.”
“The Marco Polo Network will change the traditional bank-corporate relationship in an innovative way to make the real multi-bank platform happen.
SBI R3 Japan is proud to encourage more banks and corporates to join this truly global ecosystem.”
SBI Holdings & SBI R3 Japan (Munetoshi Yamada, Head of Business Development Dept.)
According to the ‘MarcoPolo Global CorDapp Trial Infographic’, the trial was a seven week long engagement: initiated which involved “346 individuals, 73 organisations and 24 countries” worldwide.
Marco Polo Network was launched in 2017, and states that the ‘CorDapp Trial’ was a successful demonstration of a joint undertaking between TradeIX and R3” towards the creation of an open enterprise software platform aimed at providing an “open enterprise software platform to banks and corporates; and a distributed, blockchain-powered solution that allows for the seamless exchange of data and assets between participants”
The network claims its mandate to be the provision of a “dramatically improved customer experience using cutting-edge trade and working capital procedures, to enable seamless data integration and exchange between trading parties. This type of network provides the basis for revenue growth and a simultaneous reduction in costs, time and risk.”
As well as aiming to:
“gather together the entire trade ecosystem. It is a network at its core, uniquely positioned to enable its members to benefit from ‘network effects’. In other words, every time a new organisation joins, the value of the Marco Polo Network increases for every other participant.”
A press release dated November 25, 2019 announced the introduction of BNY Mellon bank into a so-called “evaluation program” being executed between the Marco Polo Network, R3 and its Corda Blockchain.
It is claimed in this release that “By engaging with Marco Polo, BNY Mellon is positioning itself to explore trade financing powered by blockchain, in an industry where many participants still rely on costly and inefficient paper-based systems to conduct trade.”
That it is a reflection of BNY Mellon’s:
“focus on fully digitizing the business to deliver new capabilities faster, unlock the power of data and put clients at the center of their ecosystem.
BNY Mellon remains dedicated to broadening the scope of its digital ecosystem both by actively advancing its own products and services as well as seeking opportunities to collaborate with best-in-class external companies.”
