Marco Polo is the largest and fastest growing trade finance network in the world, powered by distributed ledger technology (DLT) and focusing on bringing significant efficiencies in financing trade. BayernLB, Helaba and S-Servicepartner have announced today that they’ve joined the Marco Polo Network for piloting and evaluating purposes. Banks have been running pilots on the network for some months, see.

DLT trade network

The Marco Polo Network is a joint initiative bringing together R3, TradeIX and 20 leading financial institutions based in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific. Their mission is to provide and grow the first distributed trade finance network, allowing banks to offer access to open account, traditional and structured trade finance solutions to their corporate clients in a more efficient, transparent and connected way. 

R3’s Corda blockchain technology was developed with enterprise privacy and connectivity requirements in mind, and therefore ideally suited for financial transactions. It provides permission and real-time visibility that fosters a high level of trust and collaboration among trading parties. 

ERP-driven supply chain finance - a game changer

ERP applications play a critical role in global supply chains, according to Oliver Belin, Chief Marketing Officer at TradeIX, a company that provides working capital and trade finance solutions leveraging blockchain. He points out that in a manufacturing environment, for example, ERP systems ensure that all required materials to produce a final product are available in the right place at the right time. ERP systems also deliver real value when linked to the sales forecasting system. When sales are booked for a product, the corresponding raw materials can be automatically ordered without the need for any human intervention. On the procurement side, suppliers, payables information and the invoice approval processes are also all managed with the ERP system.

Marco Polo ERP App

The Marco Polo ERP App is designed to help customers reduce administrative costs and risks in using working capital finance solutions as well as having access to a wider range of funding opportunities. It is currently available on Oracle’s Netsuite ERP platform. 

The App helps customers reduce administrative costs and risks in using working capital finance solutions as well as having access to a wider range of funding opportunities. The app integrates receivables, payables and inventory information and gives company access to the Marco Polo Network,

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CTMfile take: Integration of ERP systems into supply chains PLUS the unprecedented level of trust that DLT / blockchains provide shows the Marco Polo is becoming one of the leading trade finance solutions.