Lloyds Bank Pioneers Blockchain Trade Finance with Digital Document Overhaul
Lloyds Banking Group is eliminating paper-based trade finance documents through blockchain partnerships, aiming to complete transactions in days instead of weeks. The British lender processed its first digital promissory note in 2022 and has since expanded to digital bills of exchange and letters of credit using Enigio's blockchain platform.
A 2024 integration with WaveBL now enables electronic bills of lading across 136 countries, slashing courier costs and processing times. The bank recently settled a UK-India letter of credit transaction in four days—a process that traditionally takes weeks with physical documents.
The initiative aligns with broader industry adoption of blockchain for trade finance, where HSBC and Standard Chartered have launched similar digital documentation systems. Lloyds plans tokenized deposit capabilities by 2027 as part of its multi-year digitization strategy.
