The challenge
Cross-border trade still comes down to trust.
An exporter selling to a buyer they don't know needs to be sure of payment, and the importer needs to be sure the goods will arrive. For centuries the standard answer has been the letter of credit, issued by banks. The need for that security hasn't gone away, but the process behind it has barely moved.
Britta Balden, founder and managing director of SmartLoC, puts it this way: "There is a very old tool called the letter of credit, offered by banks. It's a very ancient process that hasn't changed since the Middle Ages."
SmartLoC was built to offer a digital alternative. It brings contracts, IoT shipment monitoring and payment together on one platform, and sits between exporter and importer as the matching point.
The solution
SmartLoC uses Enigio's trace:original to create promissory notes digitally from the start, with no paper version involved. The note becomes the payment promise on the platform, next to the contract and the shipment data.
"Enigio offers a digital notary service on blockchain, very helpful and easy to be integrated with our trading partners," says Balden.
The impact
For SmartLoC's customers, digitisation doesn't just save time — it makes deals possible that wouldn't have happened otherwise. "It brings a lot of satisfaction, because all of a sudden things can happen that normally wouldn't," says Britta.
"Where before we could give up or lose a sales channel, now both parties can find a reliable platform to set up a trustful relationship." Combined with shipment monitoring, the result is a bridge between trading partners that's digital, easy, and trustworthy end to end.
As Britta sums it up:
"They are building bridges between partners. Digitally, it is possible and easy — Enigio is really helping us a lot."
What SmartLoC achieved
- Digitised promissory notes via Enigio's trace:original, removing a paper-bound instrument from the trade cycle
- Built a single matching point for exporters and importers to manage credit risk together, rather than negotiating trust from scratch on every deal
- Combined digital promissory notes with IoT shipment monitoring, giving both parties visibility alongside the payment instrument itself
- Opened up deals and sales channels that previously wouldn't have gone through at all