Blockchain Revolution Series: Bank of America Taps R3 and TradeIX To Strategize and Develop International Trade Network

Many global banking giants have always been fond of blockchain technology and already begun deploying the new technology for some banking businesses, like trade finance, custody services, trading, and their own crypto-projects. Trade finance is one domain of traditional banking practice that looks aggressively as to how blockchain can bring a paradigm shift in its business.

HSBC clarified back in May’2108 as to how the world’s first commercially viable blockchain trade finance transaction on the Corda platform was successfully executed, that was developed by the R3 blockchain consortium. Later on, other banking players, such as, Deutsche Bank and Rabobank also teamed up to launch a trade finance platform.

For now, as per the announcement of Marco Polo which is the blockchain-driven trade finance network, Bank of America, which is one of the largest bank in the world by its total assets, has associated with them for the advancement of international trade functionalities by reducing inefficiencies and for a better service delivery to their clients.

‘Marco Polo’, was originally launched in 2017, leverages R3’s Corda and the TradeIX distributed trade finance platform to provide an open enterprise software platform for trade and working capital finance to banks and corporates.

A distributed, blockchain-powered solution that allows for the seamless and secure exchange of data and assets between participants.

The head of global trade at Bank of America, Geoff Brady, mentioned that “Joining the Marco Polo Network supports our strategic objective of turning technology advances into trade solutions that address client needs. We look forward to exploring how the new technology can generate greater transparency for our clients throughout the transaction lifecycle, making traditionally paper-based, opaque processes easier and more efficient.”

While Mr. David E. Rutter, the CEO of R3, after associating with Bank of America, expressed his optimism on Marco Polo to attract more and more U.S. banks.

He said “As the network continues to grow, so too does the growing number of use cases blockchain technology presents in transforming financial markets. Trade finance is one such area that is set to benefit the most from the promise of blockchain and the increased efficiencies it can bring.”