Citi India has completed its first blockchain-enabled Letter of Credit (LC) transaction on Contour for its client Cummins India Limited (Cummins), a diversified industrials manufacturing company. 

The transaction is a first for both Cummins and Citi India on Contour, a global digital trade finance network, powered by blockchain technology, that enables multiple parties – banks, corporates, and logistic partners – to collaborate seamlessly and securely in real-time on a single platform. Citi is a founding member bank of Contour. 

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 Contour’s decentralised global trade finance network has proven that LC processing time can fall by as much as 90 per cent. 

Under the LC, document presentation usually takes 5-10 days, while for Cummins it was completed in three hours. This marked the first domestic end-to-end blockchain-enabled LC transaction completed on Contour.  

Mridula Iyer, Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions, Citi South Asia, said, “A top priority for our trade business globally, and in India, is to simplify trade processes and reduce transaction time, as well as provide clients access to trade financing and working capital solutions, through digital platforms. 

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Platforms such as Contour bring together multiple partners involved in a trade transaction while eliminating the need for paper-heavy documentation and is a critical enabler of trade digitisation. We are extremely pleased to be able to partner with Cummins and Contour in executing this transaction”.

Citi, through its Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) business in India, served as both LC Advising and Issuing Bank. 

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