Lloyds-led transaction unveils greater benefits of structured data in trade
Together with technology solution providers Enigio and Cleareye.ai, Lloyds and Maersk have completed a digital trade transaction using embedded structured data which delivered 100% data extraction accuracy and accelerated the end-to-end transactional process.
Using Enigio’s trace:original product, Lloyds and Maersk created a digital Sea Waybill with embedded structured data aligned to the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Key Trade Documents and Data Elements (KTDDE) framework.
The framework aligns vocabulary across 36 of the most frequently used trade documents and, although it is not a full data model for each type of document, it promotes the usage of embedded standardised and structured data to allow for enhanced machine-readability.
The digital Sea Waybill was used in support of a shipment of tea from Kenya to the UK. The documentation allowed for 100% data extraction accuracy on Cleareye.ai’s ClearTrade solution, thus accelerating document processing and minimising manual interventions.
Lloyds, Enigio and Cleareye.ai will now look to work with the ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) through their KTDDE implementation working groups to operationalise the framework across a wider range of documents. This is part of efforts to further accelerate the adoption of straight through digital processing, to drive enhanced and more efficient customer outcomes
Pamela Mar, managing director of the Digital Standards Initiative at the International Chamber of Commerce, said: “The KTDDE framework was developed to connect different data and digital document standards to enable a seamless flow of trade data across the entire supply chain. Frameworks only gain real value through implementation, and we need to develop, test, and refine in order to see it applied widely.
“This proof of concept does exactly that – by putting KTDDE in operation. It’s an important step forward, not just in validating the framework, but in proving that seamless, data-driven trade is no longer a future aspiration but a real enabler of digitalisation today.”
Surath Sengupta, head of Transaction Banking Products at Lloyds, commented: “This transaction marks a significant milestone in our journey, integrating digitalisation and automation for our clients’ benefit. By using structured data, we promote document standardisation from the outset, making them fully machine-readable and minimising the need for manual intervention throughout the transaction. This exciting development highlights our commitment to innovation and efficiency in trade finance and we look forward to continuing this important collaboration.”
Patrik Zekkar, CEO of Enigio, commented: “This is what the future of trade looks like: a single digital document that’s both the legal original and the structured data. It travels across systems, untouched and tamper-proof, ready for full automation. That’s the step change. We’re not just experimenting – we’re executing, with Lloyds, Cleareye.ai and the ICC, to bring this approach to scale. This was the first step – aligning on vocabulary and proving that document and data can move together. It’s how we go from isolated pilots to true interoperability and automation across document types and stakeholders in the trade chain.”
Mariya George, CEO of Cleareye.ai, said: “Our collaboration with Lloyds and Enigio brings together three pioneers committed to redefining the future of trade finance with this ground-breaking solution. At Cleareye.ai, we’re leading the shift from manual, paper-based processes to intelligent automated, and fully digital trade flows; we’re setting a new standard for speed, compliance, and trust. This clearly demonstrates how all parties are firmly aligned with the ICC’s KTDDE initiative and represents a bold step toward a truly digital trade ecosystem.”