Trade-Van Information Services Co (關貿公司) yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding with lenders and logistics companies to develop a blockchain application to speed up customs clearance, and facilitate trade loans for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The company, which is no stranger to providing conventional custom filing services for importers and exporters through electronic data interchange and file transfers, is hoping to take advantage of the distributed ledger’s indelible record keeping and automated smart contract functions to revolutionize its offerings.
Blockchain-powered applications would especially aid smaller companies, which often endure processing periods that exceed a month, as they are not capable of supplying the same operational information for review as their bigger peers.
Through blockchain technology, companies could submit their information and cut the processing time to less than three days, Trade-Van chairman Alan Hsu (許建隆) told a news conference in Taipei.
The application would overhaul the key parts of the custom clearing process, including auditing, data analysis and risk management, Hsu said.
Improved information transparency would also allow lenders to identify trade financing opportunities among smaller companies, which would have been overlooked in the past due to the high amount of manual auditing hours required to approve loans, Hsu added.
Trade-Van’s blockchain development partners include state-owned Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (中國輸出入銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), DBS Bank (星展銀行), COTA Commercial Bank (三信商銀), Chung Kuo Insurance (兆豐保險) and the government-run Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund of Taiwan.
The company reported aggregate net income of NT$226 million (US$7.33 million) in the first nine months of this year, up from NT$208 million during the same period a year ago, with revenue rising to NT$1.11 billion from NT$986 million.
Earnings per share were NT$1.51 at the end of September.
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