BRAC Bank has completed Bangladesh's first blockchain-based digital export transaction, cutting trade document processing time from roughly 40 days to a single day in a deal linking a domestic garment manufacturer with a British fashion retailer.

The transaction was carried out by NAZ Bangladesh Ltd., a knitwear manufacturer and corporate customer of BRAC Bank, which exported ready-made garments to UK-based retailer Matalan. The deal marks a notable step in Bangladesh's push to modernize international trade operations through blockchain technology and electronic documentation.

BRAC Bank served as the remitting bank in Bangladesh, while Lloyds Bank acted as the collecting bank in the United Kingdom. The transaction used technology supplied by Enigio, which enabled the participating organizations to create, transfer, and manage original trade documents electronically. Under the blockchain-based system, the document processing period fell from 40 days to one day, illustrating how digital trade infrastructure can accelerate export documentation and improve operational efficiency.

Electronic Bills of Lading Replace Paper Documentation

The transaction involved the electronic creation and transfer of original trade documents, including an electronic bill of lading (eBL) and a digital promissory note. A global shipping company issued the electronic bill of lading, while Digital Trade Works coordinated the transaction among the participating organizations.

Bills of lading have long served international shipping as cargo receipts, contracts of carriage, and documents of title that must be surrendered to claim goods at their destination — a reliance on transferable paper originals that has kept trade documentation physical for decades and made electronic alternatives a priority for banks, carriers, and exporters alike.

Under conventional documentary collection arrangements, original trade documents generally must be physically transported between exporters, banks, importers, and other parties involved in international shipments. That process can introduce delays, administrative expenses, and additional operational risks. Documentary collection itself is a long-standing trade finance method in which banks relay documents between exporters and importers in exchange for payment or acceptance rather than extending credit on their own account, making the speed and integrity of document transfer central to the arrangement.

The blockchain-enabled solution replaced these physical document exchanges with electronic transfers, allowing the participating banks and businesses to access and process the required documentation digitally. The reported one-day completion time applies specifically to document processing rather than the entire export transaction or payment cycle, but it still represents a substantial improvement over the conventional 40-day processing period cited for the deal.

The digital approach also improved transaction visibility and document security. Electronic records can reduce the likelihood of documents being lost, delayed, or modified without authorization, while giving participants better access to transaction information.

Garment Exporters Could Benefit From Paperless Trade

The development carries particular significance for Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry, which depends heavily on international buyers and cross-border trade documentation. Garment manufacturing anchors the country's export economy and places Bangladesh among the world's largest apparel-exporting nations, so the documentation burden across its export pipeline is substantial. Exporters routinely coordinate with overseas customers, shipping companies, banks, and financial institutions to complete documentary requirements, and delays can complicate commercial operations and raise administrative costs.

NAZ Bangladesh's successful transaction with Matalan demonstrates how electronic documentation could simplify those processes. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, the company's managing director, highlighted the importance of speed and reliability for garment exporters. He described the completed transaction with Matalan and the participating banking partners as an important milestone for the industry, and indicated that paperless trade could improve efficiency and transparency in international business relationships.

Wider adoption of blockchain-based trade documentation could help Bangladeshi exporters reduce administrative burdens, improve transaction visibility, and strengthen relationships with international buyers.

BRAC Bank and Lloyds Highlight Digital Trade Benefits

Tareq Refat Ullah Khan, BRAC Bank's managing director and chief executive, described the transaction as a major step toward accelerating digital trade in Bangladesh. He emphasized that the bank had become the first financial institution in the country to complete an end-to-end digital export documentary collection transaction using blockchain technology and an electronic bill of lading.

Lloyds also emphasized the commercial benefits of replacing conventional paper-based documentation with secure digital records. Surath Sengupta, managing director and head of transaction banking products at Lloyds, said the transaction demonstrated how digital trade systems could improve processing speed, transparency, and operational efficiency for businesses.

Representatives from the participating organizations also attended the transaction milestone. They included Su Ashworth, head of trade finance at Matalan; Alex Waites, chief sales officer at Enigio; and Merisa Lee Gimpel, founder and chief executive of Digital Trade Works.

Bangladesh Moves Toward Digital International Trade

The transaction underscores the growing potential of blockchain technology beyond cryptocurrency applications, particularly in international commerce, banking, and supply chain documentation. By digitizing original trade documents and enabling secure electronic transfers, financial institutions can reduce dependence on physical paperwork and improve coordination among exporters, importers, and banking partners. The deal also fits into a wider industry shift: major container shipping lines, working through the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), have publicly committed to making electronic bills of lading standard practice for containerized trade by 2030.

BRAC Bank's completed transaction provides a prominent example of how blockchain infrastructure can modernize traditional trade finance processes and support faster, more transparent cross-border commerce. For Bangladesh's banks and exporters, the next measure of progress will be whether similar transactions move from first-of-its-kind milestones toward routine practice across the country's trade finance system.