Israel-based fintech WaveBL has signed up Lloyds Bank as the first UK lender on its electronic trade documentation platform.

Lloyds Bank clients will now be able to transfer blockchain-based electronic bills of lading (eBLs) across WaveBL’s network of members worldwide, reducing the time taken from days to minutes compared to their paper counterparts.

“Corporates are looking to prioritise digital trade solutions, and financial institutions have been looking at how they can meet this demand,” says Ofer Ein Bar, vice-president, financial institutions at WaveBL.

Ein Bar says the partnership with Lloyds Bank “represents a strategic leap forward for banks to support corporates as they digitalise, while enhancing customer satisfaction”.

Former HSBC executive Ein Bar joined the firm in 2021 to help boost bank uptake.

“Our clients now have easy access to a global platform for eBLs” enabling them “to capitalise on opportunities quickly and securely, while reducing their impact on the environment”, adds Rogier van Lammeren, head of trade and working capital products at Lloyds Bank.

WaveBL recently raised US$11mn in its latest funding round as it looks to expand further and add more banks to its roster. In June 2023, it managed to secure US$26mn.

Lloyds Bank is also a signatory to the Future of International Trade Alliance’s eBLs declaration, which set a goal in 2023 of 100% global uptake of eBLs by 2030.