In the latest crop of companies and institutions offering electronic alternatives to letters of credit (L/Cs), Provident Bank in the US has said it will offer its customers the ec-Finance FastLC product. Cincinnati's Fifth Third Bancorp already offers a similar service through ec-Finance, which basically enables customers to complete L/C financing in what it claims is a secure environment on the internet.

Microsoft Malaysia has been enlisted to help v-lc DOTCOM, develop virtual letters of credit for the banking and logistics industries as well as importers and exporters in Malaysia. Microsoft's BizTalk Framework will provide v-lc DOTCOM the framework in which all parties in a trade cycle can be pulled together in a virtual environment. BizTalk provides v-lc with the tools needed to integrate, manage and automate the processes for exchanging business documents, v-lc said in a statement. The Malaysia-based company claims to have developed the world's first virtual letter of credit.

Hewlett-Packard is offering online settlement through its B2B (business to business) electronic payment application launched late last year. This application is linked to BroadVision Inc.'s Business Commerce electronic procurement and marketplace management system.

TradeCard claims more than 100 businesses are now using its online settlement services and this year it will focus on convincing more businesses making big-ticket purchases on the net by using facilities it is developing in partnership with MasterCard International. The credit card's sliding scale of charges makes larger purchases too expensive under existing arrangements.

Meanwhile, more traders and technology partners are trying out Bolero, the electronic platform on which data and documentation related to cross-border transactions can be exchanged in a secure environment. In January, Netfish Technologies, Inc. announced it had forged a strategic alliance with Bolero. The Californian company describes itself as leading provider of XML-based business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce solutions.

Bolero has also extended its net in Japan. In December Tokai Bank joined compatriots Fuji Bank, DKB, Sanwa Bank, Bank of Tokyo when it signed up to use the electronic trading platform. Tokio Marine and Fire became the first insurance company to join Bolero. Yoichi Tagawa, deputy manager of marine underwriting at the insurance company said Bolero would "become the de facto mechanism by which we will issue insurance certificates to our customers electronically around the world".

Tate & Lyle, which describes itself as a global leader in carbohydrate processing, announced in December that it had signed up to use Bolero. The company moves substantial amounts of unrefined and refined molasses and sugar to processors and markets across the world.

With so many solutions claiming to improve upon and potentially replace traditional means of transacting cross-border business, several conventional traders and electronic marketplaces remain unsure about which system to choose. A vice-president of an eighteen-month old electronic trading platform used by around 300 metals businesses said she was evaluating several options. Another managing director of a UK-based food importer told DCPro World that he favoured bank-based systems, but remained open to new ideas.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of ICC or the other partners in DC-PRO.