Emirates NBD, in partnership with DP World Trade Finance, Enigio and iBind, has successfully completed the first-ever Proof of Concept (PoC) on Digitally Native Trade documents (hereinafter referred to as “Trade document”) with the application of Trusted Digital Identity. This unique milestone, achieved in collaboration with Enigio and iBind, represents a significant stride in leveraging technology to enhance global trade and financial services.

The joint efforts of the team conducting the PoC, were aimed to address the core issues effecting adoption of digitally native Trade documents. The physical flow of transactional documents used in international trade was re-created using digitally native trade documents.

3 key attributes were identified for facilitating a digitally native document through an existing channel of trade, which are:

a) demonstration of uniqueness/genuineness
b) establishment of ownership and authority
c) ability to be transferred to a new owner

The increasing adoption of UNICTRAL’s Model Law for Electronic Transferrable Records (MLETR) – a technology-neutral open framework, promoting the usage of electronic transferrable documents, has helped in the creation of uniquely identifiable and transferrable digital Trade documents. However, for any trade transaction life cycle, the facilitation of digitally native Trade documents involves different stages where the ownership of the document (identity and authority) needs to be established. Hence, the need of creating ‘Trusted Digital Identities’.

The corporate entities involved in the trade (i.e. – the issuer, the transferrer, or the transferee of an e-Bill of Lading) should be verifiable through a trusted source of identity management. Several frameworks exist today for identity management, e.g. Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) but are not widely accepted. This is primarily because such frameworks serve different purposes and are not designed specifically for a digitally native ecosystem for Trade documents. Hence, the need for implementing a digital identity management framework which is easy to adopt, interoperable and channel agnostic.

The PoC marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of digital trade finance, as it not only validates the digital trade documents such as an e-Bill of Lading, but also verifies and establishes the authority of the corporate entities involved in the end-to-end trade transaction. The solution creates Digital IDs (DID) that act as a public key that can be linked with any digitally native document. Further, the bank plays a critical role in verifying the DID of their existing relationships, relieving the other transacting parties from having to conduct their own KYC or due diligence.

Key Accomplishments of the PoC:

1. Digitally Native Trade Documents: The PoC successfully demonstrates the creation, transmission, and authentication of digitally native trade documents. This advancement significantly streamlines trade processes, reducing reliance on traditional paper documentation.

2. Trusted Digital Identities: Through the collaborative efforts of Enigio, iBind, Emirates NBD and DP World Trade Finance, a robust system for trusted digital identities has been created and implemented, ensuring the security and authenticity of entities involved in trade transactions.

3. Interoperability and Integration: The PoC showcases seamless integration into existing trade workflows, emphasising interoperability with various systems and applications. This ensures a smooth transition for businesses adopting these cutting-edge technologies.

4. Enhanced Security Measures: The implementation of trusted digital identities contributes to enhanced security measures, reducing the risk of fraud and unauthorised access in the digital trade environment.

Vishnu Purohit, Group Head of Trade Product Management, Emirates NBD, commented:

"We are thrilled with the success of our PoC for Trusted Digital Identities. This innovative solution has demonstrated its potential to revolutionise digital trade, offering enhanced security, efficiency and trust. It is a pivotal step towards a more seamless and secure trade ecosystem, and we are excited about the possibilities it holds for the future of international trade.

"This PoC proves how banks, corporates and technology firms can work together to demonstrate innovative thinking to drive speedy and tangible outcomes for all involved. To use trusted data already held by a bank for the benefit of all transacting parties, provides the ability for all parties to validate the data instantly, securely and without the need of a platform.

This is a true example of collaboration between Emirates NBD, DP World Trade Finance, Enigio and iBIND of exploring and executing digital efficiencies in trade finance transactions."

Sinan Ozcan, Senior Executive Officer and member of the Board, DP World Trade Finance, commented:

"This innovative proof of concept is streamlining financial processes and making it easier to deliver trade finance to the organisations that need it most. Our work with these talented partners matches with our aim of addressing the trade finance gap. By collaborating with partners across the industry, we are bringing trade finance into the modern era and transforming the lending process."

Sanat Bhat and Santu Maity, Co-Founders of iBind Systems, commented:

"The PoC demonstrates how the Trade gap can be reduced by redefining the cumbersome and opaque processes to traceable and verifiable journeys. The PoC uses iBind’s digital infrastructure for trusted digital identities with digital native Trade documents. The partnership is a strong reference of collaboration between a leading bank, Industry leaders and technology partners – Enigio to enhance the trust and security in the trade while removing the delays and cost inefficiencies."

About DP World Trade Finance

DP World Trade Finance offers a trade finance platform that brings importers, exporters, and logistics companies from around the world together with financial institutions and other providers of trade finance, while being a provider of trade finance facilities itself as one of the financial institutions on the platform Since its launch in July 2021, DP World Trade Finance has partnered with 27 financial institutions and generated over $900 million in credit limit submissions. The registration process takes less than five minutes and over 58,000 global clients have already signed up for affordable access to trade finance through the platform.

DP World’s extensive outreach to businesses across the globe, visibility on trade data and control over cargo help financiers connect with businesses, identify risks, build confidence, and provide credit, while businesses gain access to affordable and innovative financing options to grow their business.

DP World Trade Finance has obtained its lending license in June 2022 and is engaged in providing credit via short-term working capital solutions like invoice factoring, invoice discounting, reverse factoring and trade payables financing. DP World Trade Finance plans to participate in risk with existing lenders on the platform to ensure that working capital requirements of clients are adequately met.

The platform is operated by DP World Financial Services Limited, which arranges and provides credit for clients who are based in the UAE. DP World Services Limited arranges credit for clients outside the UAE.

About Enigio

Enigio is a technology company offering solutions to ensure consistency, integrity, traceability, and possession of digital information making data available only to those who should have access to it while protecting it from manipulation. Freely transferable digital original documents is at the core of what Enigio does and the trace:original solution can be used for multiple types of commercial documents required in global trade.

trace:original provides banks, corporates, logistic providers, and others with all the advantages of original paper documents but none of their shortcomings, without the need for joining a specific ecosystem or closed platform.

Visit www.enigio.com for more information.

About iBind

iBind Systems is a Fintech company offering a ‘digital infrastructure’ for banks & financial institutions to do seamless digital acquisition and on-boarding of Corporate customers with any account based services and credit services.

iBind Systems offerings include digital identities, KYC/AML verification, entitlements management, e-documents, digital signatures and AI-powered risk and credit assessment solution. Additionally, the company provides a Data Locker for secure storage and consent based re-sharing of KYC information. These products are expertly developed to enable the digital identification and effortless onboarding of corporate customers for both credit and non-credit products, improve communication, and deliver robust risk mitigation solutions.

Visit www.ibindsystems.io for more information.

About Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD (DFM: Emirates NBD) is a leading banking group in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye) region with a presence in 13 countries, serving over 9 million active customers. As at 31st December 2023, total assets were AED 863 billion, (equivalent to approx. USD 235 billion). The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, India, Türkiye, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Russia and Bahrain and representative offices in China and Indonesia with a total of 850 branches and 4,431 ATMs / SDMs. Emirates NBD is the leading financial services brand in the UAE with a Brand value of USD 3.89 billion.

Emirates NBD Group serves its customers (individuals, businesses, governments, and institutions) and helps them realise their financial objectives through a range of banking products and services including retail banking, corporate and institutional banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management, global markets and treasury, and brokerage operations. The Group is a key participant in the global digital banking industry with 97% of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The Group also operates Liv, the lifestyle digital bank by Emirates NBD, with close to half a million users, it continues to be the fastest-growing bank in the region.

Emirates NBD contributes to the construction of a sustainable future as an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development and sustainability initiatives, including financial wellness and the inclusion of people of determination. Emirates NBD is committed to supporting the UAE’s Year of Sustainability as Principal Banking Partner of COP28 and an early supporter to the Dubai Can sustainability initiative, a city-wide initiative aimed to reduce use of single-use plastic bottled water.