UniCredit completes first blockchain-based international transaction via we.trade

Italian financial services giant UniCredit has successfully completed its first international transaction via blockchain-based trading platform we.trade.

UniCredit is one of the founding members of we.trade – an initiative by a group of banks officially launched in October 2017, in collaboration with IBM. Other founding members include Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Societe Generale, and Banco Santander. Nordea joined the cohort in December 2017.

Last month, we.trade had announced that 10 companies executed 7 live trade transactions on its platform.

In its official release, UniCredit said that the transaction involved its corporate client navabi GmbH – an internationally active plus size online retailer, which used the platform to place an order with a Spanish supplier. The transaction was facilitated by Banco Santander on the Spanish side.

The transaction was first of its kind in the German market. UniCredit said that the blockchain-powered we.trade platform allowed mapping the entire transaction process end-to-end. In addition, the platform leverages smart contracts to make the transactions “considerably faster and more transparent as well as easier and safer, especially with new trading partners.”

we.trade is expected to be rolled out to a broader market, including corporate customers of the affiliated banks, in the forthcoming months, UniCredit said. It also expects to add more banking partners before the end of the year.