For centuries trade finance was conducted with letters of credit, a system created to prevent pirates from boarding a sailing ship and stealing a merchant’s gold. Taking this venerable system and putting it into the electronic age is one of the most significant trends to emerge in trade finance for decades, enabling greater efficiency and, in turn, creating opportunities for new trade finance products.

One of these is the bank payment obligation. This is an irrevocable electronic payment issued by an importer's bank to the exporter's bank, which could substantially automate the laborious process of financing a deal while protecting both parties against risk.