UAE based Emirates NBD has inveted in Blockchain enabled Komgo, trade finance platform. As per the press release , the strategic equity investment was made by Emirates NBD’s Innovation Fund, the Bank’s corporate venture fund.   The fund created in early 2023, aims to strengthen synergies from strategic partnerships by combining the Bank’s digital ambitions and regional expertise with the agility and technological innovations of fintech companies. Emirates NBD’s corporate venture capital arm will enable the Group to make investments in tech start-ups and companies that further support its digital strategy. The Innovation Fund’s mandate is to invest in a wide range of stages, from early to growth, depending on the strategic fit for the Group, with the aim of delivering strategic benefits and realising a long-term return from investments. Komgo’s solutions empower Treasury, Credit, and Trade Finance operations, streamlining communications and strengthening operat...

    In a recent LinkedIn post , Zul Javaid, CEO of UAE Trade Connect, the UAE’s first trade finance platform to combat fraud, announced that they had hired Wissam Massud to lead their international expansion. As per the post, Massud will define market-entry strategies as UAE Trade Connect widens its horizons to GCC, other Middle East, Africa countries. In the post, Javaid states, “We know that UTC's unique #blockchain technology addresses a real-life pain for banks and tradefinance lending everywhere, so we fully expect to be knocking on lots of countries' doors in the coming year.” Prior to this announcement, In May 2023 Zul Javaid coming back fro a recent participation at Global Trade Review conference in KSA had noted that UAE Trade   Connect was interested in offering its solutions to the Saudi Arabian banking sector. As per Javaid, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a robust banking market, and we are very keen to bring our unique blockchain and AI based engi...

  Blockchain trade finance platform for banks in the UAE, UAE Trade Connect, an e&enterprise company has announced that it has surpassed $27 million in transactions identifying interbank duplicate financing and preventing fraud attempts. According to their LinkedIn post , “ This accomplishment serves as a testament to the unwavering dedication and commitment of the 12 leading banks in our consortium to combat fraud in real-time. As we move forward, we remain committed to continuously improving our platform's capabilities and staying ahead of evolving #fraud tactics.” UAE Trade Connect includes the following UAE banks, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, ADIB - Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Al Masraf, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Commercial Bank International, Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Mashreq Corporate & Investment Banking Group, National Bank of Fujairah, RAKBANK and United Arab Bank . UAE Trade Connect   is seeking   to offer its soluti...

US blockchain deposit token infrastructure provider which ues Corda by R3 to bring CBC deposit token infrastructure , Fluent Finance has expanded into the MENA region with the opening of its operations in Abu Dhabi, UAE under the new name, Fluent Economic Bridge. Fluent Finance will offer trade finance and cross border payments with the support of UAE Ministry of Economy. Fluent Finance's new UAE entity, named Fluent Economic Bridge, will be focused on deposit token infrastructure, promoting cost-effective and borderless trade finance between Abu Dhabi banks and global markets. The company is currently procuring a trade license from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an integral part of Fluent's mission to offer dependable digital asset services to its UAE partners and the global trade community. On twitter, Fluent Finance stated, “ We’ve expanded into the MEA region, setting the stage for the next chapter in UAE's FinTech innovation, delivering our leading-edge deposit to...

    UAE Halliday Growth, a non-bank trade finance provider has partnered with Blockchain entity InvoiceMate to offer Blockchain AI powered invoice financing in the UAE. The agreement was signed during the World Token Summit 2023 held in Dubai UAE. UAE based, InvoiceMate is a blockchain powered platform for trusted & efficient invoice processing, payments & financing. Speaking to LaraontheBlock Muhammad Salman Anjum, Founder of InvoiceMate, stated, “For us at InvoiceMate, this partnership is very valuable as it brings diversification of experiences to a real venture.” He adds, “Halliday Growth is an established brand with extensive experience in the UAE market. InvoiceMate is eager to share its tech competency to reach the common goal of financial inclusion for MSMEs in the region. Blockchain and AI powered InvoiceMate offers a sustainable solution for working capital problems of the businesses.   We are looking forward to serve UAE together.” Prior to t...

  As the National Bank of Fujairah received two awards for Best Innovation in Trade Finance" and "Most Innovative Trading Platform" for the second consecutive year at the MEA Finance Banking Technology Awards 2023, it announced that its integration of Finverity, a   blockchain-based supply chain financing platform   has resulted in reduced operational costs and the generation of new revenue streams. In October 2022, Finverity, and the National Bank of Fujairah launch of a partnership to grow supply chain finance (SCF) and account receivables (AR) finance volumes in the MENA region. The partnership has started with Redington Gulf, which will enable the service to reach the maximum number of IT resellers in the UAE. Under the partnership, Finverity provides a curated origination pipeline, deal structuring and an end-to-end technology platform for ongoing operations and reporting, with NBF underwriting and funding SCF and AR assets on Finverity’s marketplace. The partne...

  UAE Trade Connect Blockchain enabled trade finance platform looks to offer its solution to Saudi banking sector. Zul Javaid, CEO of UAE Trade Connect expressed his interest in expanding the Blockchain enabled KYC Trade Connect platform to KSA. This came as UAE Trade Connect participated at the Global Trade Review conference in Riyadh KSA in May of this year. As per Javaid, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a robust banking market, and we are very keen to bring our unique blockchain and AI based engine into the country to help banks de risk their trade finance lending.” Javaid met with several leading Saudi banks at the event. Also present at the event in KSA was First Abu Dhabi Bank and Emirates Bank who are members of Blockchain enable UAE Trade Connect platform. In February 2023, UAE Trade Connect added its 11 th bank to the platform, the United Arab Bank. Prior to that Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) became the 10th bank to join Blockchain trade finance platform. UTC...

  Shipsy, a leading global SaaS-based logistics management platform provider which utilizes technologies such as blockchain has signed an MOU with Monsha'at, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to support Saudi Vision 2030. This development took place at the sideline of Biban 23 Forum.   The MoU highlighted that Shipsy would offer its technology at a significant concession for all customers channeled through Monsha’at. The logistics SaaS provider also earmarked an investment worth USD 10 million over 5 years in the region to drive technology innovation and research and development. This MoU’s objective will be to develop and support SMEs and entrepreneurship under the laws and regulations in force in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and commensurate with the available resources, aiming to drive growth and economic diversification. "We are honored to partner with Monsha'at and thrilled to be a part of KSA's Vision 2030. ...

    In 2021 Avanza Innovations was piloting its KYC banking solution in Pakistan, two years later, Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA), on behalf of all its member banks, signed the project contract for the development and execution of Pakistan’s first, blockchain based, national eKYC banking platform with the Avanza Group. Avanza Group’s eKYC platform, ‘Consonance’, is being implemented for PBA. The platform will use blockchain technology through which banks will be able to standardize and exchange, with customers’ consent, their details via a decentralized and self-regulated network. This will be a support platform for Pakistan’s banking industry and all participating member banks will be able to perform assessments of their existing, as well as new customers, by utilizing information/ data available with any other bank on ‘Consonance’. In 2021 Avanza was piloting the EKYC blockchain enabled platform with three big banks. In an interview Waqas Mirza, Founder and CEO of ...

    Blockchain UAE Trade Connect platform, the UAE’s first trade finance platform to combat fraud has added United Arab Bank (UAB) as its 11 th bank on its platform. UTC, the fintech blockchain platform of e& enterprise, is the UAE's first commercialized solution to combat fraud in the trade finance space built on advanced technologies, namely blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI). UTC is a collaborative project of the banking industry and co-created with e& enterprise. UAE Trade Connect is a cloud-native solution that detects suspicious transactions, prevents fraud and duplication, and supports a wide range of trade-related documents that is validated and inspected in real time. Shirish Bhide, Chief Executive Officer at United Arab Bank, stated, “We wholeheartedly support UTC's mission of driving digital transformation and reducing fraud risks. This strategic partnership aligns with UAB's mission to accelerate growth through digitization and to build...

    Alea Global Group will be holding their edition of Alea Sessions in Riyadh KSA. The one day gathering under the theme ‘The New Opportunities in Investment in the New Saudi Arabia’ will gather 100 of the GCC and MENA region’s top family offices. The event will include a session on Blockchain in Trade Finance. Alea Global Group is a conglomerate single family business formed in 1998 in the State of Kuwait owned by a member of Al Duaij family. The one day event will discuss private debts and CLOs, trade finance, mezzanine debt, open banking, micro and macro banking environments, and Saudi Arabia’s unicorns. The Alea Sessions is a series of irregular but responsive events held by Alea Group Group which are held when there is a need to address important topics that need to be addressed and which our followers would like to talk about. These events are usually shorter than their Family Office Summits, with a more focused programme. They may occur anywhere in the world, a...

  UAE Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank secured 130 deals valuing over $128 million from 11 banks in Bangladesh using Blockchain trade finance platform TradeAssets. TradeAssets is powered by blockchain technology for digital origination and the distribution of trade assets. As a result UAE based Blockchain trade finance e marketplace TradeAssets has awarded Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), e-Marketplace Champion Award for its excellence in digital adoption from blockchain-powered e-Marketplace  ADIB has been constantly embracing new and emerging technologies, with the strategic partnership signed last year with TradeAssets further strengthening the efficiency and productivity of businesses.  Commenting on the recognition, Abdulla Shehhi , Global Head International Business Group (IBG), at ADIB, stated, “ADIB is at the cutting-edge of global transaction banking offering end-to-end Sharia’a-compliant trade financing through digital channels. Through the successful implementation of Trad...

  Saudi Arabian, Saudi British Bank (SABB) is utilizing Contour Blockchain platform to enhance trade finance by improving letter of credit and guarantee procedures for enterprises and international businesses. SABB is working with local fintech entity Bwatech. SABB is now the first bank in KSA to provide the ability to exchange commercial documents digitally, facilitate the procedures for letters of credit using a decentralized technology, and reduce dependency on paper documents and the time required for document settlement in commercial transactions.   The Blockchain enabled Contour platform improves transaction security because the data that is shared on the network enjoys a high degree of protection and privacy, which reduces the risk of fraud. The Bwatech platform boosts the automation of bank guarantees. This service aims to replace paper-based procedures with advanced technical methods by linking banks issuing these guarantees with their beneficiaries to expedite ...

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has become the 10th bank to join Blockchain trade finance platform UAE Trade Connect (UTC), developed by e& enterprise, formerly Etisalat Digital. As per the news this will support ADIB’s digital transformation strategy while boosting the transparency and security of its services. The bank will utilize the UTC platform for the detection of fraud and dubious transactions in the trade finance segment, according to a press release.   Faisal Abu Shaar, Group Chief Risk Officer at ADIB, said: “With the goal of supporting UAE’s economic development, we will work closely with UTC and other member banks to enhance our digital capabilities and promote the security of the country’s financial sector. We look forward to capitalizing on the opportunities of this agreement to deliver safe and completely transparent banking solutions for our customers.”   Meanwhile Zulqarnain Javaid, CEO of UTC, added “ADIB is an important bank in the corporate ban...

  Saudi Arabian Taajeer Group, the exclusive agent for MG cars in the Kingdom has utilized the Blockchain enabled Contour platform in its importing of cars from China. HSBC, Chinese SAIC Motor, and KSA Taajeer group executed a successful blockchain enabled trade finance transaction on the Contour platform. As per the news this is a regional first for the automotive sector and a first in KSA. Contour is a digital trade finance network that is building a global standard for trade by bringing together the world's banks, corporates and ecosystem partners, onto a common, digital, and trusted network. The Contour platform enabled end-to-end digitisation of the credit documentation required for Taajeer to import a shipment of cars from SAIC in a process that is up to 10 times faster than using physical documents.   Chaker Zeraiki, Head of Global Trade & Receivables Finance for HSBC UAE, said: “Our digitising at scale means making customers’ lives easier and, with Contour ...