DBS Bank is to offer multi-tier financing on a logistics blockchain platform named Rong-E Lian, to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China get faster access to trade financing.
The bank integrated its digital onboarding API into the blockchain platform, allowing DBS to verify the credentials of a supplier within seconds. Once credentials are verified, the bank is then able to offer digital trade financing services to upstream suppliers, often SMEs, in the ecosystem within 24 hours.
The initiative is seen as beneficial to suppliers embedded beyond the first layer of the logistics supply chain ecosystem, as they include SMEs which may have limited access to trade financing due to their lack of scale or credit history.
Neil Ge, CEO of DBS China, says: “More than half of SMEs globally tend to face rejection by financial institutions for their trade finance needs, contributing to the world’s trade finance gap of USD 1.3 trillion . By using new technologies such as blockchain and APIs, we hope to democratise trade finance by providing SMEs more affordable and convenient access to bank credit to enable them to realise their business ambitions, serve their customers well and expand into new markets with ease.”
He says DBS completed its first multi-tier financing transaction on the Rong-E Lian blockchain platform with suppliers in the firm's 1000-strong logistics supply chain ecosystem in August.