HSBC Bangladesh holds first letter of credit on Contour blockchain

The Bangladesh branch of the HSBC global banking company for the first time conducted a transaction on fuel oil imports with accredit, executed on the Contour blockchain.

HSBC settled imports 20 000 tons of fuel oil from the Singapore subsidiary of United Mymensingh Power. General Director HSBC Bangladesh Mahbub Ur Rakhman (Mahbub Ur Rahman) described the deal as a demonstration of the Bank's adherence to “support for cross -border trade using advanced technological platforms”. He said: 

"I think, that this will open a new era of routing international trading transactions, since enterprises and governments begin to recognize the advantages of transparency, safety and speed of tasks using blockchain ".

According to SWIFT, in the first half 2020 the volume of transactions using letters of Bangladesh exceeded the volume of transactions $34 billion. Due to the use of blockchain time, necessary for transaction processing, Reduced with 5-10 days to less 24 hours. United Group Managing Director Moynuddin Hasan Rashi (Moinuddin Hasan Rashi) said:

“Time is an important factor for letters of credit for such goods, Like fuel oil, When every second is on the account. We count, that blockchain will help effectively manage temporary costs, and also ensure increased efficiency and the best cost management ".

Recall, that last month the trade financing platform on the Contour blockchain, designed by a group of eight banks, Including HSBC, THE и Cith, was launched after the end of beta testing. Earlier, the major Asian bank Asian Development Bank, headquartered in the Philippines, conducted the first deal with a letter of credit, executed on the Contour blockchain.

In July, the Chinese metallurgical company Nanjing Iron&Steel Co made the purchase of iron ore on $16.87 Milln through the Contour blockchain from Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting PTY, And in May, Standard Chartered held on the Contour blockchain the first letter of credit in the yuan.