Trade finance platform Komgo has unveiled a significant upgrade to its system, bundling its solutions into a one-stop shop for corporates and banks, following months of development and millions of dollars in investment.
Komgo has begun rolling out its Global Trade Konnect (GTK) application to existing users and new clients, enabling them to manage, automate and report their trade finance activities in one place.
Financial institutions previously handled their trade finance exchanges through Komgo’s Konsole product, while corporates used a solution acquired from GlobalTrade Corporation in 2022 to manage requests for instruments such as letters of credit (LCs) or guarantees.
As part of the upgrade, these products have now been merged so there is no need for data reconciliation by users, and Komgo’s Trakk solution for document checking will be automatically applied to all transactions. The platform has also introduced AI technology for the first time in a bid to automate processes further.
Komgo’s chief executive, Souleïma Baddi, says the move is a “major upgrade” to the platform that combines “the best” of Komgo’s solutions into one application, allowing for a more seamless user experience.
“We have consolidated the products we have built in previous years to enhance the business applications of large corporates with big trade flows,” she tells GTR.
“It targets multinational companies in sectors like defence, manufacturing, civil engineering, aviation, aerospace, construction, energy, machinery, or health… with teams in multiple locations that handle massive volumes of guarantees and LCs.”
As an example, an MRI machine exporter may open a guarantee via the Komgo platform to cover its risk on a shipment, which could be taking place several months after the contract has been signed.
The exporter’s salesperson can connect to Komgo’s platform, ask for the issuance of a guarantee and – if it is a relatively standard transaction – this request goes directly to the bank, Baddi explains.
If the deal raises potential compliance concerns it would be sent to the company’s treasury team, which can check and directly push it to the right bank’s back-office.
The approach is much quicker than manual email processes or standard digital platforms, Baddi argues.
She notes that banks and corporates still often use spreadsheets which often leads to “risks, delays and complexity”.
“If you have to do this today without GTK, it’s a full email chain where you have to chase people one after another,” she says.
“It does not take just two days, but an entire week. It is a question of time, efficiency and security – banks have to repeatedly check that emails are coming from legitimate persons.”
It is also a notable upgrade for Komgo’s existing users, who previously had to manually switch between the Konsole, @GlobalTrade and Trakk solutions.
“It was not possible before,” Baddi says. “There was a break in the chain, and a transaction had to move from one module to another and then to the bank in a non-automated way. We have now combined all of our solutions, allowing full connectivity between the modules and a full straight-through processing with the banks.”
AI element
Following extensive research and development projects in recent months, Komgo is also set to deploy AI technology for the first time as part of the system upgrade.
“We are embedding AI in our products to achieve better automation and efficiency,” Baddi says, adding the initial use cases will be for LC and bank guarantee issuances.
“As an example, we are using it to extract data and clauses from contracts to automate LC drafting or to help with guarantee drafts – it can help ensure alignment with internal policies, whether it be compliance, risk or another threshold. It can enhance and automate fee calculation, as well as any kind of wording checks. With our clients, we have been testing many AI models on real-world documents.”
Baddi believes AI will slash transaction times for corporates and banks, though employees will still make the final decisions.
“[It] brings additional speed so they can review and take the right decisions,” she says. “It’s extremely powerful.”
The platform expects to finalise the technology upgrade by the end of 2025.
In the meantime, existing customers will have a chance to test the technology in a controlled environment, Baddi says.
More broadly, Komgo is looking to further accelerate its expansion into new areas of the trade finance market.
“We have all the global international banks using the platform, and quite a few regional banks that are starting to use it too,” Baddi says. “On the corporate side, we are growing the business in every location. The fastest place we’re growing is the Americas, and Asia is another region of growth.”
Komgo was founded in 2018 and established its presence as a trade finance platform for the commodities sector, used by major banks and commodities traders. When it acquired GTC in 2022, the platform secured over 100 multinational customers and thousands of their subsidiaries overnight – accelerating its efforts to expand business outside of the commodities market.
