The challenge
As one of the UK’s largest banks, Lloyds has long been at the centre of international trade finance. But traditional, paper-heavy processes left transactions exposed to inefficiency, delays, and risk. For corporates, it could take 30–45 days to complete a trade flow — a drag on working capital and supply chain resilience.
The solution
Working with Enigio since 2020, Lloyds has been at the forefront of digital trade innovation. Together they completed:
- The first digital negotiable instrument transaction under ITFA’s DNI Initiative — even before UK law recognised electronic trade documents.
- The first digital trade transaction under the UK’s Electronic Trade Documents Act (ETDA), executed within months of the law’s enactment.
- Landmark live transactions with Mercore, Maersk, and other partners, embedding digital bills of exchange and sea waybills directly into commercial trade flows.
For Lloyds, Enigio’s open model has been critical.
Jon Boran, Head of Future Trade Products at Lloyds, explains:
“One of the things that really stands out about the Enigio model is the fact that it’s an open solution. Only the party issuing the digital trade document needs to be on the Enigio solution. It’s been very good for us to get our clients up and running, very easy for our clients to accept digital documents without the need to sign contractual terms with Enigio.”
The impact
The benefits are tangible and proven:
- Transaction times cut from 30–45 days to as little as 2 hours
- Year-on-year growth in digital transaction volumes across clients and corridors
- Simpler onboarding for corporates, thanks to Enigio’s open solution (no closed platform requirements)
- Interoperability demonstrated via the Enigio–TradeGo channel, connecting UK–China trade in both directions
Boran highlights the success:
“We’ve seen transaction times cut from 30 days or 45 days to as little as two hours. We’re very keen to continue to grow digital trade with Enigio. We’ve been working with Enigio for about five years now, and our transaction volumes are increasing year on year.”
What Lloyds and Enigio have achieved
- First-mover milestones: from ITFA’s DNI initiative to the UK’s ETDA
- Landmark collaborations: with Mercore, Global Tea, Maersk, and others
- Structured data innovation: embedding DCSA standards into live digital sea waybills
- Investment in the future: €3 million invested in Enigio to accelerate adoption of digital documentation
And the journey continues:
“We are now working with the ICC DSI and other fintech companies to build key trade documents and data elements into the solution — which will help take digitisation of trade to the next level.”