BBVA to offer payment and financing services on Trusple – Ant Group’s blockchain platform for global trade
BBVA and Ant Group (Alibaba affiliate) have signed an agreement to collaborate on the integration of financial services in their platform, Trusple. Based on blockchain technology, this network is aimed to accelerate the digital transformation and facilitate the financing of international trade operations, with a special focus on small and mid-sized businesses.
The agreement signed with BBVA will allow the bank to integrate cross-border payment and financing services in Trusple, enjoying all the benefits from blockchain technology in terms of transparency and security.
These services will be offered by BBVA Mexico and BBVA Spain so that Mexican and Spanish importers that currently import from China can pay for the operations within Trusple, without having to use external services. The system uses ‘smart contracts’, which automatically execute the transactions when the milestones established in the contract by the importer and exporter are reached.
“Trusple is designed to resolve the problems that SMEs and financial institutions face when in cross-border trade. BBVA’s previous research on blockchain technology will allow us to incorporate new services in this platform fairly easily,” says Alejandro Cárdenas Bortoni, head of Commercial Banking at BBVA México.
“We hope that by next year, we can help any Spanish or Mexican SME that already makes purchases from Chinese suppliers through this portal with a much simpler, easier and more transparent system,” adds Pablo Lopez Tallada, the Head of International Solutions on BBVA Spain.
BBVA estimates that the first piloting systems will be launched in early 2022 and the services will be operational for its clients in Spain and Mexico throughout the year. This agreement makes BBVA the first bank in Spain and Mexico to join the international trade platform, which already attracts over 10 major financial institutions across the world.
Trusple was launched in September 2020 with the mission to resolve the biggest problems in international trade. Import-export operations are typically very long and complex processes, based on documentation on paper, in which it can take months for the goods to be delivered and the payments made. Trusple’s proposal integrates distributors and suppliers in one point with access to financing in real-time.
Its offer is really simple for any company, regardless of its level of digitization, with an immutable system in the data log and a single access point to all the tools that address the needs of cross-border trade and financing.