International Chamber of Commerce and Finastra bring trade funding marketplace pilot to Ecuador

- ICC TRADECOMM™ – designed to unlock the global $1.5 trillion dollar trade finance gap – will enable local SMEs to tap into new financing options

PARIS and LONDON, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Finastra have announced Ecuador as the first market in which they will run the pilot for their trade funding marketplace (announced earlier this year). The ICC TRADECOMM™ marketplace, powered by Finastra, aims to reduce trade finance barriers for SMEs and enable all parties to benefit from improvements in matching supply and demand, ultimately decreasing the global $1.5 trillion dollar trade finance gap.

ICC Secretary General, John W.H. Denton AO said, "We are incredibly pleased to announce Ecuador as the first pilot market for ICC TRADECOMM. We look forward to working with our colleagues at Finastra and on the ground in Quito to provide SMEs with short-term liquidity for their trade operations. At a time when our global trade system remains fractured, it's incumbent upon business leaders and international organizations to equip SMEs with the required solutions and funding to build back their activity to pre-pandemic levels. Given that SMEs make up 99% of Ecuador's businesses, we believe that ICC TRADECOMM will have a transformational impact on local businesses throughout the country."

During the pilot, bank and non-bank financers are given the opportunity to finance local SME invoices via a risk-based approach. The focus will be on engaging with early adopters in region to support local platform development, with the goal being to bring the solution to all SMEs and financers there.

Carlos Zaldumbide, General Secretary of ICC Ecuador said, "We are so excited to be able to support this essential initiative to help towards reducing the growing trade finance gap for SMEs in our country and around the world. Ecuador is well placed for the pilot as we have a growing economy supported by a strong SME backbone. We are already in the process of bringing important e-invoicing initiatives to our country and this will be a tremendous complementary initiative that could really make a difference."

Simon Paris, CEO at Finastra said, "We all have an obligation to redefine finance for good and to help drive global economic equality of opportunity. In orchestrating this ecosystem with the ICC, we expect to build a financing marketplace that will provide support to SMEs which desperately need access to a broader set of alternative financing resources. Ecuador is a growing, emerging market and we hope the pilot will demonstrate how we can help to facilitate significant levels of trade financing for local organizations, creating the showcase that will then allow ICC TRADECOMM to enable more markets where we could potentially facilitate billions of dollars in trade."

New markets for additional pilots have already been identified and will be revealed soon.

Media Contacts:

Timothy Conley
International Chamber of Commerce
E: timothy.conley@iccwbo.org 
T: +33 6 45 12 82 62

Caroline Duff
Finastra
E caroline.duff@finastra.com 
T +44 (0)7917 613586

About the International Chamber of Commerce:

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the institutional representative of more than 45 million companies in over 100 countries. ICC's core mission is to make business work for everyone, every day, everywhere. Through a unique mix of advocacy, solutions and standard setting, we promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation, in addition to providing market-leading dispute resolution services. Our members include many of the world's leading companies, SMEs, business associations and local chambers of commerce.

About Finastra:

Finastra is building an open platform that accelerates collaboration and innovation in financial services, creating better experiences for people, businesses and communities. Supported by the broadest and deepest portfolio of financial services software, Finastra delivers this vitally important technology to financial institutions of all sizes across the globe, including 90 of the world's top 100 banks. Our open architecture approach brings together a number of partners and innovators. Together we are leading the way in which applications are written, deployed and consumed in financial services to evolve with the changing needs of customers. Learn more at finastra.com

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SOURCE Finastra