Nordea – a private banking institution in the Nordic region – has expanded its business to small and middle-sized firms (SMEs), with easier access to the Blockchain-powered platform we.trade.

According to Patrik Zekkar – Nordea Global Head of Trade Finance and Working Capital Management, the banking giant hoped that the initiative will offer a solution to current “trust deficits” issues, caused when SMEs try to execute a cross-border transaction.

“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, but it may also lead to companies refraining from trading and not growing.” Zekkar further stated.

By utilizing the features of the we.trade platform, clients could select a number of predetermined conditions that if met, will trigger a payment to another party.

A total of 12 banks across the region, including Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale and UniCredit, have collaborated to develop the we.trade platform project, which was built using the foundation of the IBM Blockchain platform. The first live transaction was conducted on we.trade in June 2018. Nordea decided to contribute to the project one year prior and has opened it for a few selected clients in April 2019.