HDBank joins Contour network to improve Letters of Credit issuance

HO CHI MINH CITY,
VIETNAM – Media OutReach – 6 May 2020 – HDBank,
the Vietnamese-based financial institution, has today joined Contour, the open trade finance network, to increase its ability
to extend trade financing to more corporates. This addition to Contour’s blockchain-based
network further strengthens its offering to the trade finance industry.

HDBank is the latest financial institution to join Contour and
marks the first bank in Vietnam to be part of the company’s trade finance
network. This offers an opportunity for Vietnamese corporates to take advantage
of the online negotiation and streamlined management of Letters of Credit with
counterparties in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the USA.  

Built on R3’s Corda, Contour’s network
is focused on overhauling the Letter of Credit (LC) issuance process. LCs are
traditionally paper-based, time consuming to process and costly to deal with.
By digitising LCs on a blockchain network, the processing time and cost
involved will be significantly reduced. With the current socio-economic
climate, the need for further efficiency in the market has grown even more
apparent.

Carl Wegner, CEO, Contour said: “The
focus with our network has always been to establish a neutral platform that all
different types of banks and corporates can use for trade finance transactions.
To fully unlock the potential of what enterprise blockchain can bring to trade
finance, banks and corporates need to be able to collaborate and forge new
connections. That is the ultimate aim of Contour, and it’s something we’re
continuing to see as we welcome HDBank into the network.”

Phạm Quốc Thanh, CEO at HDBank, added: “We
saw the potential for Contour to revolutionise how we issue LCs and knew it was
an opportunity like no other. From working with Carl and his team, we hope to
change that, providing increased flexibility with LCs, streamlining the process
and providing funds to corporates in a far more efficient manner than ever
before. In due course, we look forward to sharing news of transactions taking
place on this network.”

About Contour:

Contour is
building the world’s open trade finance
network.  With industry-wide collaboration and blockchain technology
we are dissolving barriers to create seamless trade.  Our network of
Banks, Corporates and Partners enable the instant flow of trusted data across
the world’s trade routes and fragmented ecosystems, creating a streamlined
future for businesses.