London, 12 June 2025 – In a major milestone for cross-border trade digitalisation, Lloyds has successfully completed a live transaction for UK retailer Matalan and Chinese exporter Yatex. The transaction included a fully digital bill of exchange (dBoE) , with all other supporting documents powered by Enigio’s trace:original.
The transaction, executed via an interoperable digital channel between Enigio and TradeGo (announced in October 2024), demonstrates the viability of end-to-end digital trade execution without the need for physical courier services or paper documents. This marks a significant leap forward for the retail sector, where time and certainty have always been critical, but in today’s landscape this is becoming more important for corporates operating globally.
What was achieved
- A fully digital bill of exchange was generated and all supporting documents were issued and accepted between parties in the UK and China in less than 24 hours. In comparison, traditional processes can take up to 45 days.
- The process was initiated by Matalan, with Lloyds drafting the undrawn dBoE in accordance with the pre-agreed instructions from a major Chinese bank.
- The digital document was seamlessly shared with the Chinese bank and Yatex via the Enigio-TradeGo interoperable channel where the exporter electronically signed and submitted collection instructions.
- Acceptance and confirmation were exchanged digitally, supported by SWIFT and Enigio’s trace:original verification tools, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the instruments throughout.
- Given the success of this transaction, all parties have also confirmed this trade flow will now be paperless moving forward.
- This is the first interoperable transaction between TradeGo and Enigio where the goods are being exported from China to Europe.
Alex Waites, Executive Director at Enigio, said:
“This isn’t a pilot. It’s not just talk. It’s a live transaction executed under real commercial conditions, with real goods moving and real payments expected. It shows that with the right technology and collaboration, digital trade can be not only faster and safer but business-critical. We are moving to fully digital trade flows for real.”
Jon Boran, Head of Future Trade Products at Lloyds commented:
“The ability to seamlessly transfer electronic trade documents between solutions marks a new era in trade finance, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this innovation to bring real value to our client.”
Susan Ashworth, Senior Trade Finance Specialist at Matalan, stated:
“This transaction demonstrates that digital trade is quick and efficient, especially when done in close collaboration. It streamlines processes, cuts transaction times, reduces carbon emissions and lowers costs for all of the parties involved. We’re committed to digitalising more trade flows and look forward to doing that in partnership with Lloyds Bank and Enigio.”
With global supply chains facing growing complexity and unpredictability, especially in the retail sector, reducing friction and lead times is no longer a nice-to-have. This transaction shows that digital negotiable instruments can deliver tangible impact bringing processing time from days down to hours while maintaining full legal and regulatory compliance.
About Enigio
Enigio is the open network for digital trade. Its trace:original technology enables the creation and exchange of tamper-proof, digital original documents that can be freely verified and transferred — just like paper, but digital, with no need for all parties to be on the same platform. Supporting any document type and built for interoperability, Enigio’s solution is used by leading banks, corporates, and logistics providers to scale digital trade securely and sustainably.
Lloyds’ support for businesses
- Lloyds supports more than one million UK businesses with leading digital and relationship banking services, as they start up, grow, thrive and trade internationally.
- Through a network of relationship teams based across the UK, as well as internationally, it delivers a mix of local understanding and global expertise necessary to provide long-term support to its clients to help businesses fulfil their growth aspirations.
- It offers a broad range of financing beyond term lending, which spans import and export trade finance, structured and asset finance, securitisation facilities and capital market funding.
- Its product specialists provide bespoke financial services and solutions, including tailored cash management, international trade, treasury and risk management services.
Media and press contact:
Solveig Rundquist, Marketing & Communications Manager, solveig.rundquist@enigio.com