Press Release

Finastra connects to Contour, offering an enhanced digital trade finance network

The integration brings together banks and corporates globally through a common digital network ecosystem, increasing access to trade finance while enabling seamless and secure transactions

London, UK – October 10, 2022 - Today at Sibos 2022 in Amsterdam, Finastra announced a strategic collaboration to integrate its Fusion Trade Innovation software with Contour, the global digital trade finance network, providing banks and corporates with a streamlined end-to-end back-office workflow. Users may access their data through either platform, providing banks with increased efficiency and faster turnaround times when processing Letter of Credit transactions. Ultimately, it opens the door for increased access to trade finance and stronger returns for banks.

Carl Wegner, CEO of Contour commented, “Our partnership with Finastra is an important step forward in breaking down barriers to adoption and increasing access to trade finance. By integrating with Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation, financial institutions and corporates will have access to an end-to-end ecosystem of services that will enable them to transact seamlessly and securely.”

Global trade is a multi-trillion-dollar industry that corporates and consumers rely upon daily. To increase efficiencies, many financial institutions have sought a network to support collaborative workflows between trade participants. Finastra and Contour address this need via this new integration, enabling digital adoption while decreasing client costs, reducing reliance on paper transactions, and reducing risk.

Together, Finastra and Contour will further accelerate adoption of digital trade solutions by linking together the two key components of digital trade finance – a deeply integrated core banking platform for internal processes, and an external decentralized network for bank and corporate customer communication. The solution offers full transparency and visibility, reducing the Letter of Credit lifecycle by up to seven days, freeing up working capital for corporates and improving returns for banks.

Isabel Fernandez, EVP, Lending Business Unit at Finastra said, “We are excited to connect with Contour, an innovative leader in this space, in our journey to orchestrate the digital trade ecosystem for our clients. Finastra is focused on making it simple for our financial institution clients to connect seamlessly to the global trade ecosystem so they can maximize business efficiency and develop new business opportunities. We’re pleased that this collaboration enables corporates, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), access to trade and working capital finance where they transact.”

Visit us at Sibos this year at Finastra booth #E57 and Contour booth #DIS40. Contour is hosting a daily demo onsite at 2pm CET for anyone who would like to join.

Photo of Finastra and Contour
Photo shows (left to right): Joshua Kroeker, CPO at Contour, Michael Vrontamitis, Lead Industry Principal, Lending at Finastra, and Carl Wegner, CEO, Contour

 

For further information please contact:

Adeline Ee McNary
Head of Marketing and Communications
T: +1 206-890-9622
E: adeline@contour.network

Caroline Duff
Global Head of PR
T: +44 (0)7917 613586
E: caroline.duff@finastra.com

About Contour

Contour is a Singapore-headquartered, global digital trade finance network that is building the global standard for trade by bringing together the world's banks, corporates and ecosystem partners, onto a common, digital, and trusted network. Powered by innovation, trust and collaboration, Contour uses decentralised technology to offer seamless integration with market-leading digital document systems and other digital networks, enabling the instant flow of trusted data across the world’s trade routes and current fragmented ecosystems. Contour won the CorporateTreasurer House Awards – Service Providers (Asia Pacific) for Digital Innovation in 2022. It was also named Best Fintech in Trade in 2022 and Leader in Trade for Digitalisation in 2021 by GTR, and recognised by Treasury Management International as Best Trade Finance Solution in 2021. www.contour.network

About Finastra

Finastra is a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, and launched the leading open platform for innovation, FusionFabric.cloud, in 2017. It serves institutions of all sizes, providing award-winning solutions and services across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets and Retail & Digital Banking for banks to support direct banking relationships and grow through indirect channels, such as embedded finance and Banking as a Service. Its pioneering approach and commitment to open finance and collaboration is why it is trusted by ~8,600 institutions, including 90 of the world’s top 100 banks. For more information, visit finastra.com.

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