Bank of America joins the Marco Polo Network
by Ben Poole
Bank of America has announced that it is joining the Marco Polo Network, the trade finance network leveraging R3's Corda distributed ledger technology to provide transformative solutions to global trade participants.
The Marco Polo Network operates on the first distributed trade finance platform powered by blockchain technology. It offers its members access to risk mitigations solutions such as receivables discounting, payment commitment and payables finance programmes. The initiative aims to make trade finance more transparent, smarter and better connected and is championed by new technology providers TradeIX and R3.
The Bank of America announcement follows the addition to the Network of Mastercard and Standard Bank in recent weeks. Other members of the Marco Polo Network include BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, ING, LBBW, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Natixis, Bangkok Bank, SMBC, Danske Bank, NatWest, DNB, OP Financial Group, Alfa-Bank, Bradesco, BayernLB, Helaba, S-Servicepartner, Raiffeisen Bank International, Credit Agricole and National Bank of Fujairah.
“Joining the Marco Polo Network supports our strategic objective of turning technology advances into trade solutions that address client needs," said Geoff Brady, head of Global Trade & Supply Chain Finance in Global Transaction Services at Bank of America. "We look forward to exploring how the new technology can generate greater transparency for our clients throughout the transaction lifecycle, making traditionally paper-based, opaque processes easier and more efficient.”
“The Marco Polo Network is accelerating its presence in North America and we are very pleased to have one of the largest and most innovative trade finance banks in the world joining the Network," commented Daniel Cotti, managing director, CoE, Banking & Trade for the Marco Polo Network. "We look forward to working with Bank of America to address critical market challenges and to expand the Network’s reach and eco-system to a wider audience of corporate customers.”
“The Marco Polo Network’s existing roster of banks is further strengthened by welcoming Bank of America - one of the most prominent and innovative players in the financial services space," said David E. Rutter, CEO at R3. "As the network continues to grow, so too does the growing number of use cases blockchain technology presents in transforming financial markets. Trade finance is one such area that is set to benefit the most from the promise of blockchain and the increased efficiencies it can bring. We hope that Bank of America’s place in the network will encourage more to join us in transforming trade finance through technology."
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