Commerzbank and UniCredit have performed a bank payment obligation (BPO) transaction for the export of chemicals from Ireland to Italy.

The supplier, Shannon-based Heraeus Metal Processing, is a client of Commerzbank’s London branch, making this the first BPO transaction completed in the UK.

The buyer is UniCredit’s customer Ecocat Italia, an automotive parts producer in Genoa.

Petra Burckhardt, global head of product management trade services at Commerzbank, says: “The benefits of the BPO for our clients and their increasing demand for it are the drivers behind our decision to expand our BPO activities in Europe and overseas.”

Raphael Barisaac, global head of trade products at UniCredit, adds: “We have put great effort into improving the availability and convenience of the BPO for our clients. Through the creation of a fully digitalised BPO execution platform we can offer our clients a solution which combines automated processing of the flows with careful cost management, prompt payments and financial options for the seller.”

Commerzbank processed its first two live transactions supported by a BPO in October 2014, with customers in Germany and Belgium.

UniCredit’s first BPO transaction took place in October 2014 between a German and a Japanese company. It was the first bank to facilitate a BPO transaction in Germany, Italy and Romania, and has since extended coverage to Bulgaria.