US Bank has completed its first fully digital trade finance transaction using blockchain-based platform WaveBL, as it seeks to streamline trade and working capital by reducing reliance on paper documents and manual workflows.

The move marks a step forward in the bank's efforts to modernise trade and working capital services for customers, with the organisation becoming the first US bank to digitise the entire process.

The platform supports the transfer of encrypted documents between trading partners and their banks and digitises the management of Bills of Lading (BL), an important document in international shipping that serves as a receipt and title for goods in transit, reducing document transfer times from days to minutes.

For the transaction, US Bank said it acted as the intermediary bank for the exporter, a large US-listed company.

Container shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) issued the electronic landing invoice and facilitated the shipment.

In a statement, the US bank pointed out that such a transaction would have previously required the physical transport of documents across continents, which often took several days.

Instead, the new digital process eliminates delays, increasing security and compliance, and avoiding disruptions due to weather or geopolitical events.

Christine Bravo, senior vice president at the US bank, said that the initiative comes as its customers demand smarter and more efficient ways to manage their import and export business.

“This fully digital process is a step toward delivering the speed, transparency and reliability businesses need in today’s trade environment,” she added.

The initiative comes as the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), an independent organisation comprising nine of the world's ten largest shipping companies, also recently said it is committed to issuing 100 per cent electronic bills of lading by 2030.

In April 2024, Lloyds Bank completed the first cross-border transaction using Wave BL, making it the first UK bank to join the platform.

The process helped them reduce processing time from 15 days to just over 24 hours and eliminated the need for physical documentation entirely.

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