Fortis is to fully integrate Bolero’s multi-banking trade platform into its back office systems. Bolero’s solution will become available to all Fortis’ energy, commodities & transportation (ECT) commodities branches.
“Fortis ECT commodities has a well-established policy of following clients’ needs and wishes related to bank and client connectivity, especially in the trade finance day-to-day letter of credit, guarantee and collection business,” comments Eppo Heemstra, managing director for business support and development of commodities, within energy, commodities & transportation at Fortis.
“Our commodities clients typically have multiple bank relationships, so forcing a proprietary bank solution on such customers does not make sense. Deploying a proven multi-bank solution instead provides our clients with a complete overview of all their transactions with all their banks for LC, guarantees, collections and receivables, increasing efficiency.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the bank will deploy the platform on an unlimited global basis. This builds on Fortis’ previous experience gained from dealing with large global clients already live on the Bolero multi-bank platform.
“It is interesting to see the speed of change in the market reflected by Fortis’ decision to deploy the Bolero channel globally,” comments Claire Buchanan, senior vice-president, global field operations at Bolero.
“As both corporate customers and banks in global trade finance sector realise the substantial benefits to be gained by both communities, we see ever faster convergence with Bolero as the dominant multi-bank platform. Fortis is a top tier bank for the provision of trade finance for commodities clients and this most recent decision clearly positions them as a leader in driving value for these clients.”
Fortis ECT-commodities will be deploying Bolero as its multi-bank channel for trade finance, but it will also be available for clients with a bi-lateral relationship. The Bolero solution will be deployed in stages, beginning with with import/export letters of credit followed by guarantees and later on collections.
Reader Comments