Global eTrade Services (GeTS), a supply chain platform provider, has added a suite of financial tools including global payments, trade finance and cargo insurance services to its Calista trade platform in a bid to ease the financing process for its users.

Launched in 2018, Calista – an initialism for CArgo Logistics, Inventory Streamlining and Trade Aggregation – is a digital trade platform created with port operator PSA International which enables the orchestration of logistics, compliance and financial requirements for cross-border trade exchanges.

In partnership with 12 payments, trade finance and insurance providers, the new financial tools aim to help customers facilitate their trade financing needs seamlessly and securely. Users can conduct their cross-border payments in 22 currencies and for any transaction amount and get access to more than five trade financing products with approval within 72 hours from the network of domestic banks and alternative financiers. Users can also access more than 40 types of insurance products and advisory services through the platform. Some of the partners onboarded onto Calista include banks DBS and ICBC; payments providers, Liquid Group, Thunes and Rapyd; and insurers, KIB and AWG Insurance Brokers.

“We launched the financial suite so customers can buy insurance, access trade finance and complete cross-border payments through the platform all in one place,” Loo Leong Seng, CTO of GeTS tells GTR.

He says that Calista has “thousands” using the platform at present, including financial institutions, shipping and logistics companies and manufacturers, and that corporates using Calista vary widely in company size.

“We have three key areas of the supply chain that we make easier. The first is the physical movement of the goods from point a to point b, the second is the flow of the regulatory requirements, for example documentary submissions to governments for customs duties – controls can vary for government agencies across the world. The last thing is covering finance,” Leong Seng explains. He says this three-pronged approach means that everything can be completed quickly, efficiently and in one place. “Before, traders had to go to several entities to submit their documents for financing and to get customs approval,” he says.

GeTS is a subsidiary of CrimsonLogic, a Singapore-based provider of eGovernment products. The company has connections to 28 customs nodes across the world, with more than 175,000 connected parties and conducting more than 18 million transactions annually.

 

AI-driven supply chain decisions

The addition of financing tools follows the launch of Calista Intelligent Agent (IA), built on the platform in October to optimise supply chain choices by integrating artificial intelligence.

The Calista IA can provide users with insights on route options, free trade agreements, import and export rules and other value-added services. It can help to provide better freight options, based on budget and preferred timelines. Users are also able to receive updates of cargo status and movement, with the Calista IA recommending the best next steps to take in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

“To ensure our information is secure and trusted, we leverage on our intelligence agent which uses AI to enhance our clients’ experience. We also use blockchain to record everything and make sure data is uncorruptible, we integrated our blockchain technology in 2018,” he adds. Calista uses GeTS’ blockchain, the Open Trade Blockchain (OTB), to provide verifiable documents which can be shared almost instantly. OTB, released last year, is a cross-border permissioned blockchain designed to connect trade flows between Asean countries and China’s Digital Silk Road.