NDB becomes first bank in Sri Lanka to pave the path to digitalisation with blockchain technology ‘TradeLens’

The electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) facilitated by blockchain underpinned in the ‘TradeLens’ platform will contribute towards digitalising manual, time-consuming, paper-based shipping and logistics processes, while also contributing towards greater ease of doing international trade business across supply chains for all involved stakeholders 

NDB Bank recently signed up with ‘TradeLens’, a blockchain platform jointly developed by Maersk and IBM, as the first bank in Sri Lanka enabling the possibility of providing digital trade finance to its valuable customers.

Joining hands with the world’s most expansive blockchain supply chain network, NDB will gain access to critical trade data to help you automate manual verification processes, drive transparency, simplify compliance and streamline financial processing and settlement. Several global banks across the trade finance space are turning to TradeLens for a new way of handling documentary trade, supply chain finance and compliance.

“Connecting with all stakeholders and sharing information, without any risks of security and privacy breach is one the driving force of holistic digitalisation. As the first bank in Sri Lanka to unlock the potential of Tradelens ecosystem, we are committed to a more secured and robust supply chain network with our customers. It’s never been this easy before to fulfil the credit needs of our customers,” said NDB Senior Vice President – Personal Banking and Customer Experience Sanjaya Perera, adding: “We are happy to be partnered with Tradelens to implement the solution, and I am sure this will assist all our trade customers, especially exporters to connect with global buyers seamlessly and bring much needed foreign exchange to the country.”

Expressing his views at the signing ceremony, Minister of Youth and Sports, and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development of Sri Lanka Namal Rajapaksa said: “We believe digitalisation is the cornerstone of operational efficiency for our business stakeholders across the supply chain. The collaboration with TradeLens is a very important step in strengthening this digital agenda and staying ahead of the curve when it comes to digital transformation. We are excited to be a part of this digital journey that TradeLens offers to the Sri Lankan shipping and logistics industry.” 

The solutions offered by TradeLens are accelerating the digitisation agenda of the supply chain industry around the world by transforming manual, paper-based and time-consuming administrative processes into digital ones. TradeLens allows an eBL to be digitally issued and moved electronically through its journey with all the stakeholders. This not only reduces the hassles of sending physical papers from one stakeholder to the other through courier process, but also eliminates the possibilities of documents getting lost or forged and eliminates all sorts of inefficiencies of manual processes. Apart from issuing eBL, TradeLens members can use the platform to connect within the logistics ecosystem and share information needed for their shipments based on permissions, without sharing sensitive data. TradeLens makes it possible to access data from the source in near real-time, boosts the quality of information, provides a comprehensive view of data as cargo moves around the world, and helps create a timelier, secured record of transactions.

"At Maersk, we are constantly working towards connecting and simplifying our customers’ supply chains. This means that we cover every aspect of the integrated container logistics solutions that we are offering in the market. TradeLens has brought to table solutions that will delight our customers with ease of doing business, visibility, speed, and safe and secure digital solutions that will create value for them,” said Maersk Sri Lanka Country Manager – Sri Lanka and Maldives Siddharth Iyer. 

Meanwhile, Eswaran Brothers Exports, one of Sri Lanka’s premier tea suppliers for over five decades, became the first exporter out of the country to adopt eBL from TradeLens. 

“As we cater to markets in over 52 countries, we realized digitisation is the key to streamline our business easily across the global supply chain. With the TradeLens eBL, we’ve digitised our manual paper-based processes. This has helped to reduce errors, improve security and have mitigated chances of any additional costs. We are also able to offer superior customer service. We are very pleased to partner with Maersk for TradeLens’ simple and straightforward eBLs,” stated Eswaran Brothers Exports Vice Chairman Subramaniam Eassuwaren.

NDB has continued to remain at the forefront of digital banking even amidst competition, constantly introducing novel methods of banking to the bank’s clients as well as all Sri Lankans. The bank was awarded the ‘Best Digital Bank 2021’ at the Asiamoney Best Bank Awards for Sri Lanka in recognition of its efforts. This initiative to adopt TradeLens eBL comes at the time when the Digital Ministry of Sri Lanka is building and implementing a holistic strategy to address all pillars of digital transformation. The strategy includes a cluster of digitisation projects and organisations that have come together to unlock the potential of new technologies for economic growth and the overall betterment of society. The Ministry has immensely supported Maersk’s drive to promote the use of TradeLens eBL and other digital solutions in the country.

TradeLens makes it possible to access data from the source in near real-time, boost the quality of information, provide a comprehensive view of data as cargo moves around the world, and helps create a timelier, secured record of transactions. Launched in 2018, the TradeLens ecosystem now includes more than 175 organisations – extending to more than 10 ocean carriers and encompassing data from more than 600 ports and terminals. Already, it has tracked 30 million container shipments, 1.5 billion events and roughly 13 million published documents.