Batavia, the blockchain-based global trade finance platform that has been jointly developed by a consortium consisting of Bank of Montreal (BMO), CaixaBank, Commerzbank, Erste Group, IBM, and UBS has successfully completed its first live pilot transactions with corporate clients.

Initial transactions included the trading of cars from Germany to Spain, and textile raw materials for furniture production from Austria to Spain.

These transactions mark an important step in establishing Batavia as an open ecosystem that is built on the IBM Blockchain Platform. It has the potential to revolutionize the client experience by providing a digital and automated way of arranging, securing and financing international trade transactions. The pilot transactions were conducted with a variety of transportation modes, geographies and trading parties of various sizes, highlighting Batavia’s ability to scale and manage diverse transaction types.

In covering the end-to-end process of a trade, Batavia encompasses both the closing of trade agreements and the execution of smart payments, which can be automatically triggered by specified events in the supply chain and recorded in the blockchain. The platform is able to integrate track and trace and risk management tools, which can be tied to key events in the supply chains and signals from IoT devices, agreed upon between buyer and seller. These and many other Batavia features help to establish the trade finance platform as a solid foundation for a future trade finance ecosystem.

Alexander Dietlmeier, Head of Group Treasury at AUDI AG: “Blockchain is an important future technology for Audi. In cooperation with Commerzbank, we have processed a worldwide, blockchain-based commercial transaction through the Batavia platform for the first time – efficiently, safely and transparently. This achievement has demonstrated to us once again the great potential this innovative application holds. We have gained important experience that will enable us to continuously develop our capabilities in this field, and we will be testing this technology for other use cases in our distribution process.”

“It is very important to involve our corporate clients as early as possible in our research and development activities regarding the digitalisation of trade finance. I am very grateful to Audi for their cooperation and their support for our project. Our joint successful live transaction gives an idea of the potential of our platform. The trade data and the smart payment automatically triggered by shipment data build an important basis for risk management and financing tools adding value to every supply chain”, said Niko Giesbert, Divisional Board Member, Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities and Trade Finance & Cash Management, Commerzbank AG.

Building on the successful development of a minimum viable product and the first pilot transactions with clients, the Batavia project is looking to enter a new phase focused on the building out of a production-ready solution. This may include joining forces with fintechs, financial institutions or other innovation leaders in the market.