DBS has completed the first fully digital trade financing settlement on Singapore's new Network Trade Platform (NTP).
The bank worked with car firm Audi and its local distributor Premium Automobiles on the S$3.5 million letter of credit.
Launched in September, the NTP is a trade information management platform designed to digitise and simplify trade, supply chains and trade financing.
Traditionally, a car importer like Audi would have to physically present paper-based trade documents to complete a letter of credit transaction. However, by digitalising the process through the NTP, Audi and Premium could submit bank applications, as well as send and receive trade documents online.
For its part, DBS was able to receive and start processing the e-applications in real-time, cutting short the trade financing processing time from about a week to under one working day.
Sriram Muthukrishnan, group head, trade product management, DBS, says: “With digitalisation, trade information is increasingly democratised and interoperability between trade platforms is enhanced, enabling companies around the world to trade more efficiently and seamlessly with each other."