The opportunity
Digitalising traditional trade product offerings under a newly
revamped legal environment
Since the global trade landscape has shifted towards digitalisation, more and more
jurisdictions have responded by creating an enabling legal environment to facilitate the
trusted exchange of electronic transferable records. In 2023, the UK passed the Electronic
Trade Documents Act (ETDA), giving electronic documents of title the same legal treatment,
effects and functionality as their paper counterparts. This provided corporates, banks and
financial institutions with the opportunity to leverage BLs, Bills of Exchange and Promissory
Notes in electronic form to reduce costs, accelerate transaction timelines, whilst increasing
trade and access to trade finance.
The solution
Enhancing the documentary collection process with end-to-end
digitalisation
In April 2024, Lloyds Bank fully digitalised the eBL element of a transaction using WaveBL, completing the first digital documentary collection for Paull’s Matting, an SME client. This process included the issuance of both the eBL and a digital Promissory Note (dPN), The graphic below shows the end-to-end process:
- The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) issued an eBL on the WaveBL platform and sent it to the Indian exporter.
- The exporter added supporting documents and transmitted them to the remitting bank, Federal Bank in India.
- Federal Bank then replaced the application form with their collection schedule and sent the documents to the presenting bank, Lloyds Bank.
- Lloyds Bank created a draft dPN using Enigio’s solution and sent it to the importer, Paull’s Matting, for signing.
- Paull’s Matting accepted the payment obligation by signing the dPN, and Lloyds Bank transmitted the eBL and supporting documents to Paull’s Matting, who then surrendered the eBL to MSC on WaveBL platform, completing the digital process smoothly and efficiently.
“These digital trade solutions have already brought major benefits to our business. Not only did it help complete the transaction faster, but we were able to spend less time on paperwork and more time focusing on the day-to-day running of our operations—something that’s really important to us as a family-run company that regularly trades with overseas partners. Our thanks to the team at Lloyds Bank for their support throughout this process and we look forward to utilising these digital solutions in the future.”
Douglas Paull, Director, Paull’s Matting
The impact
Eliminated paper and reduced transaction time from 15 days to
under 24 hours
This comprehensive digital solution streamlined the trade process, benefitting all parties involved:
- The use of the eBL reduced transaction completion time from 15 days to under 24 hours, significantly lowering costs, the environmental impact, and the risk of losing key papers.
- Couriering of physical documentation was reduced from six times to none.
- The dPN allowed Paull’s Matting to accept its payment obligation digitally, facilitating the
quicker release of the eBL by Lloyds Bank.
“Together, the eBL and the dPN have eradicated the need for any physical paper to change hands. This has meant a faster transaction, which helps shorten parties’ working capital cycles, with less risk, at lower cost and with significantly less admin for the businesses involved. We’re looking forward to helping more companies take advantage of the significant benefits digital trade offers.”
Rogier van Lammeren, Head of Trade and Working Capital Products, Lloyds Bank
