Rabobank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Nordea Santander Uni Credit, and Société Générale have developed the we.trade blockchain platform. The platform was created to increase trade finance access for SMEs through establishing a blockchain platform.

All of Rabobank’s corporate clients are expected to be able to access the platform from mid-July onwards which, according to Finextra, would make the platform the “first major commercialised blockchain platform in the financial world”.

Wiebe Draaier, chairman of Rabobank’s managing board, says that the platform will launch with a few, chosen businesses, enabling them, “to do quick and good international business on a trusted basis”.

We.trade was formerly named Digital Train Chain Project. The project carried out its first live cross-border financial trades amongst 10 companies last week. The trades were assisted by four banks utilising blockchain. HSBC says that three of its clients completed intra-European open account transactions using we.trade.

Robert Mancone, we.trade’s chief operations officer, said the recent live success of the platform “prove that we.trade is a robust and commercially viable proposition”.

The platform is supported by IBM’s Blockchain Platform which uses Hyperledger Fabric technology. It operates in 11 European countries. The platform utilises smart contracts to aid transparency in completing open account trade transactions.

Moving forward, Mancone says the next step for the organisation is getting more banks and their customers on board, both in Europe and beyond.