essDOCS leverages SWIFT’s bank network to increase electronic document presentation and trade finance options for its customers.

VALETTA, MALTA, 21 September 2011: essDOCS, the leading shipping eDocs provider is pleased to announce that it has joined SWIFT, the financial messaging provider.

essDOCS integration with SWIFT provides banks with an additional way to receive original electronic documents presented under an eUCP letter of credit using essDOCS CargoDocs™ Solution.

Alex Goulandris, chief executive officer of essDOCS said:

“We are delighted to be able to provide CargoDocs™ over the SWIFT network, as this opens up a world of process improvements and value-added solutions. The ability for traders to present original eDocs to their banks through the ultimate multi-bank channel, SWIFT, is a significant advantage and secures faster trade credit line turnovers for companies, which is key in today’s world of high commodity prices. At the same time, banks can now use CargoDocs™ as an out-of-the-box solution accessed through SWIFT, reducing implementation time and avoiding the need to adopt yet more technological solutions.”

Integration between essDOCS and SWIFT is the first step in a larger collaboration to provide seamless trade finance solutions, with the two companies already discussing how SWIFT’s Bank Payment Obligation (BPO) functionality can be extended to automate reconciliation of letters of credit and original shipping documents or data.

The increase in price volatility of commodities such as crude oil, metals, minerals and grains over the last decade has placed a significant strain on treasury and finance departments.  Resulting financing constraints have made shippers and commodity traders look for solutions which accelerate presentation and processing of documents under letters of credit. Compliant, legally-equivalent eDocs are clearly an important part of these solutions.

André Casterman, Head of Cash, Trade and Supply Chain at SWIFT, said:

“In international trade, availability of data and prompt delivery of it is becoming increasingly critical. Businesses and banks face challenges when working with multiple sources of information. We increasingly see evidence of SWIFT being able to support e-business platforms to streamline trade and supply chain transactions – in particular for supporting their business needs through extended payment services and supply chain finance. Information available through essDOCS will further enhance this with additional, business critical trade information.”

SWIFT was founded to help banks provide trade and supply chain services that enable corporate customers to reduce risk, enhance process efficiency and improve liquidity in trade finance supply chain.

Banks and bank customers have long recognised the need to address the costs associated with maintaining multiple system interfaces for electronic transactions. Companies large and small continue to use different system interfaces to manage electronic transactions between their banks and other corporates’ systems, as well as between their own ERP systems. Such interfaces can be based on a wide variety of protocols, proprietary standards and technologies, which are inconvenient, error-prone and costly to maintain.

essDOCS was founded on the premise that creating an electronic exchange for the secure transmission of original electronic shipping and trade documents had the potential to save significant amounts of paper, time and money across the entire trade supply chain. Its solution for banks is the result of extensive work with the banking and trading communities over a two-year period to develop best practices for presentation of eDocs under the eUCP.

The collaboration of these two leaders in their fields creates a flexible solution based on open standards which enables traders and banks to send and receive any trade finance and shipping documentation in any combination.