HSBC Performs Middle East’s 1st Automobile Blockchain Transaction

• HSBC successfully executes Middle East’s first automobile blockchain transaction.
• The transaction took place on the Contour platform.
• The company imported cars 10 times faster than with paper documents.

HSBC was able to complete a trade financing transaction facilitated by blockchain technology between Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC Motor and the Taajeer Group, Saudi Arabia’s sole representative for MG automobiles. This transaction, which took place on the Contour platform, is a regional first for the automobile industry and the first transaction of its sort to take in the Middle Eastern region.

According to Chaker Zeraiki, who is in charge of global trade and receivables financing for HSBC UAE, the company’s digitizing at scale means making their clients’ life simpler, and with Contour, it means they are eliminating costs, decreasing risk, and speeding up trade.

He added, “Bringing these benefits to the automotive sector and Saudi Arabia are a measure of our international connectivity and our global leadership in trade banking.”

Using the Contour platform, Taajeer was able to import a shipment of automobiles from SAIC in a procedure that is up to 10 times quicker than using physical paperwork. This was made possible by the end-to-end digitization of the credit documentation that was necessary for the import.

In the words of Carl Wegner, CEO of Contour:

This transaction marks an important milestone in the Middle East’s automotive sector, proving that distributed ledger technology is successfully transforming the trade finance ecosystem. We are excited about the potential of wider adoption in this sector, as having a digital trade solution is no longer an option, but the new standard for the industry.