Trade finance digitalization

Trade finance plays an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the UN program for the period 2015–2030 and aimed at solving the following tasks: stimulating sustainable economic growth, productive employment and job creation, strengthening and reviving international cooperation, etc. Cross-border trade finance is based on the general principles and documents developed by the Wolfsberg Group, the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Association of Banks for Finance and Trade, which became the sources of information for the article. Its purpose is to assess the current state of trade finance, identify trends in its digital transformation and justify the advantages and limitations of using smart contracts in the field. Currently, efforts to digitalize trade finance are fragmented due to the scale and complexity of the issue. At the same time, by using innovative digital technologies, it is possible to achieve a significant reduction in the transaction costs of financial institutions, and thereby increase the availability of trade finance for applicant companies. Authors substantiate the advantages of using digital technologies for the development of the trade finance market, describe the stages of using smart contracts for those purposes and indicate the current limitations of digital trade finance solutions.Â