To improve the efficiency in trade processes, SMBC has joined hands with Mitsui & Co., a Japanese multinational. Notably, SMBC is the only Japanese bank that is taking part in Marco Polo trial project.
The press release said “[The] PoC was conducted between SMBC and Mitsui & Co. which aims to improve productivity in its trade operations, by testing modules such as Receivable Finance and Payment Commitment (Payment Undertaking).”
“SMBC expects to commercialize Marco Polo in the first half of (the financial year 2019) after verification of the PoC.”
Marco Polo, a joint venture between R3 and Irish tech firm TradeIX, was launched in 2017. The distributed ledger platform facilitates trade finance process.
Presently 15 banks which are members of the R3 consortium are testing Marco Polo. That includes NatWest, BNP Paribas and ING bank. Back in May 2018, Bangkok Bank, which Thailand’s largest bank, joined the pilot project in an effort to simplify its trade finance business.
The New York-based R3 consortium was formed by enterprises, banks and other association in 2014 as a blockchain startup. When it was launched in September 2015, the consortium had only nine members. At the end of last month, when Corda network was launched, the consortium had 300 members.