Several UK banks are gearing up the level of their trade finance offerings, including letter of credit (L/C) services, according to a recent survey.

All the banks canvassed recently by International Trade Finance (ITF) were said by the newsletter to be "at pains" to underline improvements they had made to their trade finance services, and they stressed the importance of the Internet in facilitating these improvements.

Fewer discrepancies

Amongst the banks that said they were improving trade services was Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). It is reportedly developing a full online trade service and already the bank delivers L/Cs to customers via email. Back office administrative tasks have also been automated thus allowing staff more time to check documents according to the report in ITF.

"This may eliminate more discrepancies, and so improve customers' payments and cash flow," an HBOS manager told the bi-monthly newsletter.

TradeFlow

Another bank that says it is improving its trade services is Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Its online trade finance service is delivered through RBS TradeFlow.

According to the bank, TradeFlow provides a secure, web-enabled, document management and financial settlement platform that allows clients to control many aspects of their business processes. Head of international products, Mark Davies, told ITF that it "will focus on import L/Cs."

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.