Today at Sibos 2022 in Amsterdam, Finastra announced a strategic collaboration to integrate its Fusion Trade Innovation software with Contour, the global digital trade finance network, providing banks and corporates with a streamlined end-to-end back-office workflow. Users may access their data through either platform, providing banks with increased efficiency and faster turnaround times when processing Letter of Credit transactions. Ultimately, it opens the door for increased access to trade finance and stronger returns for banks.

“Our partnership with Finastra is an important step forward in breaking down barriers to adoption and increasing access to trade finance. By integrating with Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation, financial institutions and corporates will have access to an end-to-end ecosystem of services that will enable them to transact seamlessly and securely.”

                                                                    Carl Wegner, CEO of Contour.

Global trade is a trillion-dollar industry that businesses and consumers depend on every day. To increase efficiency, many financial institutions have sought a network that supports a collaborative workflow between transaction participants. Finastra and Contour address this need through this new integration, enabling digital adoption while reducing costs for customers, reducing reliance on paper transactions, and reducing risk.

Together, Finastra and Contour will further accelerate the adoption of digital commerce solutions by linking two key components of digital trade finance – a deeply integrated central banking platform for internal processes and an external decentralized network to communicate with the bank and corporate customers. The solution provides full transparency and visibility, reducing the life of letters of credit by up to seven days, freeing up working capital for businesses and improving profitability for banks.

“We are excited to connect with Contour, an innovative leader in this space, in our journey to orchestrate the digital trade ecosystem for our clients. Finastra is focused on making it simple for our financial institution clients to connect seamlessly to the global trade ecosystem so they can maximize business efficiency and develop new business opportunities. We’re pleased that this collaboration enables corporates, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), access to trade and working capital finance where they transact.”

                                          Isabel Fernandez, EVP, Lending Business Unit at Finastra.