CGD makes the first 100% digital trade finance documentary operation in Portugal

   With the interruption of maritime transport, social contact and travel, financial institutions have been taking measures to allow transactions and the consistency of trade. CGD (Caixa Geral de Depósito) is the first financial institution to use digital media to continue support export.

   This is the first bank to carry out a trade finance banking operation using digital media, bypassing the obstacle that this area has suffered from social confinement.

   Caixa Geral de Depósitos carried out in the beginning of May, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, the first documentary trade finance operation in Portugal using a 100% digital web based platform, of electronic presentation of documents, within the scope of an import of raw materials for the Portuguese plastics industry carried out by a client SME.

   The bank explains that this foreign trade operation was supported by an import letter of credit issued by CGD. "Under normal conditions, the document flow (on paper) associated with such an operation can last up to 20 days, but through the use of Bolero's technological platform, the electronic presentation and validation of documents (in 100% digital support), lasted just a few hours with evident time savings and cost efficiency among all parties involved ", says the bank.

   The use of this technology allowed the importation from India (a country with restrictions imposed by Covid-19 on the circulation of documents), with the electronic presentation carried out quickly, safely and without loss.

Link: https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/cgd-faz-a-primeira-operacao-documentaria-de-trade-finance-em-portugal-100-digital-594030