Automate trade finance shipping documents
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Shipping and maritime transport · Organisation: essDOCS Ltd., Infosys Finacle · Maturity level: Pilot
Software provider essDOCS Ltd. partnered with Infosys Finacle in July 2020 to integrate electronic bills of lading and shipping documents directly with a blockchain-based trade finance platform. Connecting CargoDocs DocEx with Finacle Trade Connect enables financial institutions and ocean shipping participants to exchange verified logistics data automatically. This integrated workflow reduces manual paperwork bottlenecks and accelerates documentary trade credit releases across global supply chains.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot (as of 08 July 2020) — essDOCS and Infosys Finacle agreed in July 2020 on a partnership to integrate CargoDocs DocEx into Finacle Trade Connect for selected pilot customers.
- Evidence: Evidence medium
- Editorial review: pending
Description
The joint initiative by essDOCS Ltd. and Infosys Finacle targets players in shipping and the banking sector who handle complex foreign trade transactions. In traditional overseas trade, freight documents such as bills of lading must be transported by courier between seller, banks, and buyer, often taking days or weeks. By digitally linking freight document management with a DLT platform, status changes are synchronised in real time and transfer risks minimised.
In maritime trade, the bill of lading is the central ownership document for the transported cargo, whose presentation at the destination port is mandatory for cargo release. The software company essDOCS Ltd. developed the CargoDocs DocEx solution to legally securely manage electronic bills of lading, warehouse receipts, and inspection certificates digitally. Through the cooperation agreed in July 2020 with Infosys Finacle, DocEx was connected to the consortium network Finacle Trade Connect. This interface allows participating banks to automatically process the receipt and verification of digital documents within letters of credit or collections. The seamless data flow closes security gaps, minimises fraud risk from manipulated paper documents, and prevents costly delays in cargo handover at international seaports.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
Companies in shipping and foreign trade can seamlessly link letters of credit and payment transactions to digital cargo releases. Banks and shipping companies benefit from reduced operational costs and drastically shortened processing times in international document handling.
Employees perspective
Employees in export processing and bank back offices need to manually reconcile and check fewer documents. Digital releases speed up daily processing and reduce the risk of errors from manual entries.
Benefits
General
- Acceleration of document verification and payment release from several days to a few minutes
- Complete elimination of risks from lost or delayed physical freight documents
- Enhanced audit security through immutable tracking of all status changes
B2B — organisations
- Lower berth and storage costs in ports due to faster cargo releases
- Increased protection against trade fraud through cryptographically secured proof of ownership
- Direct system connection between shipping software and core banking platforms
Employees
- Elimination of repetitive checking and data entry of paper documents
- Real-time insight into the current document and payment status of each shipment
Challenges
General
- Lack of worldwide ratification of uniform legal frameworks for electronic negotiable documents
- Need for broad acceptance by all parties involved in the respective trade corridor
B2B — organisations
- Complex integration processes into heterogeneous legacy systems of banks and logistics companies
- Readiness of all correspondent banks to use common DLT standards required
Employees
- Requirement for training on new digital release and exception handling processes
Technology foundation
The solution uses the consortium blockchain technology of Finacle Trade Connect for secure and tamper-proof synchronisation of transaction steps. Through integration with essDOCS CargoDocs DocEx, electronic bills of lading (eB/L) and accompanying documents are securely passed to banking systems.
Implementation examples
Integration of CargoDocs DocEx with Finacle Trade Connect
In traditional sea transport, the processing of letters of credit requires the physical postal delivery of original bills of lading, which regularly leads to delivery delays, demurrage charges, and fraud risks.
essDOCS Ltd. integrated its document management solution CargoDocs DocEx into Infosys Finacle’s blockchain platform Finacle Trade Connect. The connection enables selected financial institutions and shipping companies to automate trade finance processing based on electronic bills of lading.
On 8 July 2020, essDOCS Ltd. and Infosys Finacle announced a partnership to bridge the gap between maritime cargo handling and bank financing. essDOCS’ CargoDocs DocEx solution digitises paper-intensive transport processes and provides legally compliant electronic bills of lading. By integrating with Finacle Trade Connect, an enterprise-wide blockchain solution for trade finance, banks can execute transactions based on verified cargo documents without media breaks. The project primarily targeted joint customers from the banking and shipping sectors to automate specific pilot use cases in documentary letter of credit business.
Elimination of delays in cargo release through timely synchronisation of transport data with banking systems and protection against forgery of title documents.
Tags
Trade finance, Bill of lading, Documentary letter of credit, Maritime logistics, Automation