Nordea Commences its Blockchain Trading Platform

• We.trade will be available to its small and middle-sized business customers.
• The platform is a joint venture including several banks.

According to a press report, Nordic Banking Giant Nordea announces its Blockchain Trading Platform we.trade to its small and middle-sized business customers (SMEs). As stated, the platform will help settle matter regarding trust deficits extant in current cross-border trades made by SMEs.  

Patrik Zekkar, Global Head of Trade Finance and Working Capital Management at Nordea, stated:

“Almost 60 percent of the SME’s said that they have to make advance payments so there is obviously a sense of insecurity surrounding cross-border trade. This is unfortunate, not only from a liquidity standpoint, it may also lead to companies refraining from trading and not growing.”

The platform will enable users to choose certain events within a smart contact that will generate a payment to another party. We.trade is based on IBM Blockchain. The platform is a joint venture which includes banks like  Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale and UniCredit. Nordea joined the project in 2017 and the operations began in June 2018.  

Nordea is welcoming blockchain technology yet it banned its employees from owning bitcoin (BTC). The bank also closed the account of Norwegian cryptocurrency exchange Bitmynt AS in December 2017. Bitmynt sued Nordea but lost the case in May 2018.