Contour Collaborates With Mphasis On B2B Trade Platform

Decentralized international trade platform Contour has teamed with information technology (IT) solutions provider Mphasis to speed up the digital transformation of global trade finance, according to a Wednesday (Oct. 21) announcement.

Mphasis will harness its Front2BackTM Transformation approach and its next-generation IT in addition to operations functions to help speed up the installation and use of the Contour network through a collection of businesses, financial institutions (FIs) and partners.

“Through this partnership, we will help banks, enterprises and ecosystem partners find new and transformative ways to transact with one another and capitalize on the vision of digital and connected global trade,” Andres Ricaurte, SVP and global head of payments for Mphasis, said in the announcement.

Contour has the support of “strategic investors” like BNPP, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bangkok Bank. CEO Carl Wegner said in the announcement that the company is continually aiming to grow its network with infrastructure that bolsters trade procedures and surmounts hurdles that the historically paper-based vertical has long been facing.

“Our vision to create a global standard for trade will be achieved through our work with other technology providers that build upon the interoperability of our network and streamlines processes,” Wegner said in the announcement.

The news comes as Contour is going into live production as it links suppliers, buyers and FIs on a decentralized trade finance platform. FIs and companies will start harnessing the platform by focusing on the Letter of Credit (LC) procedure.

“We owe our thanks to the global network of banks, corporates, shareholders and technology partners who have collaborated to deliver this network,” Wegner said in a past announcement. “Together, we have designed and built the digital future for trade finance.”

Separately, Mphasis is linking up with international enterprise services provider R3 to work on payment offerings based on the blockchain. Mphasis will be harnessing its own Payments and Trade Finance infrastructure along with Corda from R3.