The main features of any good trade finance website include letter of credit (LC) initiation and tracking, and collection, reporting and storing of document images for importers and exporters. Most also provide white-labelling services for other financial institutions to offer to their own clients. However, both Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro offer users that little bit extra.
It was difficult to separate ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank this year as both banks offer the mainstay features and also offer users of their platforms extra features that clients find valuable. For example, both platforms enable users to request forex quotes online and to trade forex for hedging purposes.
Since ABN Amro won this award last year it has integrated its trade finance modules into its MaxTrad platform and now offers a single sign-on for its LC module for initiating and monitoring transactions and open account management.
MaxTrad has increased the number of languages in which the site is available. The bank has made the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) content, which the bank uses itself internally, available on the platform. It also offers users a landed cost calculator to estimate their door-to-door delivery costs for goods shipped.