World’s Best Trade Finance Providers 2025

As President Donald Trump starts his second term, the prospect of a global tariffs war and its impact on trade and economies looms large. While international trade flows were rerouted but not fundamentally weakened during Trump’s first term, threats of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 10% tariffs on China, and possibly even universal tariffs on the rest of the world, could result in deteriorating international trade, rising prices, and disrupted global supply chains.

Although the World Bank has warned that the global economy will see weak growth in 2025, the World Economic Forum predicts that “emerging and developing economies are likely to be disproportionately impacted due to their dependence on foreign direct investment and exposure to energy and commodity supply risks.”

To mitigate the impact of tariff wars, businesses must carefully assess their trade risks, diversify their supply chains, and explore alternative markets.

Guarantees, documentary credits, and short-term financing are fundamental to international trade; and banks play a vital role in facilitating these trade finance instruments. These instruments create trust and mitigate risks during tumultuous times. They allow businesses to build stronger relationships with their trading partners, reduce risk, and facilitate more-efficient and trustworthy international trade.

Creating new trade corridors results in new counterparty relationships; and once again, banks can help join the dots.

“There is an increasing demand from our customers to help their entire ecosystem, because they want their supply chains resilient,” explains Aditya Gahlaut, managing director and co-head of Global Trade Solutions, Asia-Pacific, at HSBC. “Previously, supply chains were very simple, as all large global value chains had China in them; but as those equations are changing, we are seeing new value chains being created with other countries and hence other counterparties in the mix right now.”

As these new counterparties are not necessarily the biggest, Gahlaut says including a risk mitigation solution is important. “Whether it’s from a banking perspective or otherwise—when you are with newer counterparties, especially mid-market ones, they need help.”

Jean-François Denis, global head of Trade Solutions at BNP Paribas, agrees. “It is the core business of trade finance to propose solutions to enterprise clients to mitigate risks (e.g., counterparty risks, country risks),” he says, adding that it may also be “to provide optimization of the working capital needs.”

Denis says thoroughly understanding the enterprise’s business model, strategy, ecosystem, and value chain is key. “Thanks to that understanding, trade finance experts can do some risk awareness and help the clients determine what is or what is not acceptable,” he explains. While things can also evolve, such as geopolitical risks, so can “relationships for which trust will be improved with their duration.”

On working capital, Denis says solutions depend on the client’s objectives. “So, this goes back to providing advisory and expertise on those matters,” he states. “This requires deep knowledge and local expertise, and the economic and industrial base.”

Successful companies will match their adaptability with shifting policy changes, relying on their key banking partners to provide the necessary expertise.

Technology is essential in navigating new trade routes, allowing for greater adaptability in shifting dynamics. Trade digitalization continues apace, reducing processing times significantly and enhancing real-time functionality. AI is helping to tackle challenges like fraud detection and anti-money laundering measures.

The high-profile failures of most trade finance blockchain consortia highlights the need for protocols over platforms and digital interoperability. The International Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Swift members including banks, corporates, fintech platforms, and service providers, is working to create industry standards to streamline the financial instruments’ life cycle and enable the interoperability of trade transactions globally.

“Success will be driven by incremental adoption of solutions, standards, and legal harmonization. We all need to collaborate and be on this journey together to set us up for a secure, frictionless, and digital future,” states Avanee Gokhale, global head of Trade Strategy at Swift.

Interoperability and trust fostered through transparent communication, reliable performance, and robust risk management mechanisms could be key components for corporates looking to thrive in a more fragmented global marketplace.

Global Finance editors select the winners for the Trade Finance Awards and the Supply Chain Finance Awards with input from industry analysts, corporate executives, and technology experts. The editors consider entries as well as independent research, taking into account objective and subjective factors. It is not necessary to enter to win, but the additional information in an entry can increase the chance of success. This year’s ratings, which cover eight regions and approximately 100 countries, territories, and districts, were based on performance from the fourth quarter of 2023 through the third quarter of 2024.

Global Finance uses a proprietary algorithm that incorporates criteria such as knowledge of customer needs, financial strength and safety, strategic relationships, capital investment, and innovation. The algorithm incorporates those ratings into a single numeric score, with 100 equivalent to perfection. When more than one institution earns the same score, we favor local providers over global ones and those privately owned over those government owned.

Offering global trade finance in 44 countries, and more than 100 trade centers, across more than 60 countries gives BNP Paribas strong foundations on which to provide seamless trade finance solutions across borders in support of client growth throughout the entire trade cycle. A broad range of traditional trade finance, working capital management solutions, and substantial investment in technology to enhance the bank’s trade finance offerings helps the French multinational support clients with complex international trade operations. This includes e-banking web-based platforms (such as Connexis Guarantee, Connexis Trade, and Connexis Supply Chain). Leveraging digital solutions, such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), streamlines processes, improves efficiency, and enhances customer experience.

In 2022, BNP Paribas launched a program using AI to streamline the processing of trade finance documents and improve traceability for its clients. Since then, the bank has rolled the program out to 15 countries and processed 40,000 transactions.

“We have implemented AI technology to help classify, extract data, and automate controls. This is live today and being further expanded in terms of functionalities,” states Jean-François Denis, global head of Trade Solutions at BNP Paribas. “Bank guarantees also present the potential for AI usage, such as verifying guarantee clauses against acceptable clauses, policies, and guidelines. Anti-money laundering is yet another area where we have deployed AI.”

Finastra’s global trade and supply chain booking engine and processing offering, Finastra Trade Innovation, provides access to a growing ecosystem of services bolstered by many fintech partnerships available to banks via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Partner solutions include Enigio’s trace:original for digitizing and managing negotiable instruments and documents of title without the need for a central registry. Conpend’s TradeAI and Cleareye.ai’s ClearTrade bring efficiencies to trade finance processing, enabling banks to improve operational productivity by automating stringent regulatory and compliance processes and highly manual and paper-intensive operations. Integro Technology’s SmartLender provides a comprehensive trade-limits management offering. CoriolisESG by TradeSun, meanwhile, offers AI-powered environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scoring capabilities through the Trade Innovation platform, enabling users to book and manage trade and supply chain finance while gaining automated insights into ESG scoring.

DBS’ small and midsize enterprise (SME) trade business has experienced an 8% year-on-year revenue increase, and trade revenue for three core markets has grown by double digits. This is due to the bank’s heavy investment in digital platforms and solutions that streamline trade finance processes, making them more accessible and efficient for SMEs. These include online applications, digital approvals, and real-time transaction tracking.

Modifi aims to solve challenges in accessing traditional trade finance solutions that SMEs may face due to limited credit history, smaller transaction volumes, and higher perceived risk. Modifi offers a buy-now-pay-later model for international trade, allowing exporters to receive immediate payment for their goods while allowing importers to pay later, typically within 180 days. By bridging the gap between shipping goods and receiving payments, export finance ensures that businesses can cover production costs, shipping fees, and other operational expenses. Since payments can take anywhere from 30 to 120 days, export finance solutions enable quick access to cash flow. Modifi advances up to 90% of the invoice value upon shipment, allowing the exporters to unlock working capital tied up in receivables.

J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys (formerly the Onyx platform) leverages blockchain technology to facilitate faster and more-efficient cross-border payments. The platform enables the digitization of trade finance processes, such as issuing letters of credit, managing trade documents, and facilitating cross-border payments. Kinexys can also facilitate the tokenization of assets, such as trade receivables, which can unlock new opportunities for liquidity and trading. Smart contracts can automate specific trade finance processes, such as release of payments upon fulfilling certain conditions.

CGI Trade360 enables banks to provide their customers with the full range of traditional trade, payables, receivables, and cash management services. CGI Trade360 is a software-as-a-service platform utilized by global banks to support trade finance in over 85 countries across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. Clients include HSBC, which deploys CGI Trade360 across more than 40 countries. At the same time, the Royal Bank of Canada, following its acquisition of HSBC’s Canadian book, successfully migrated customers using both new application capabilities in receivables and existing traditional functionality. The past year saw U.S. Bank and NatWest go live with CGI Trade360 on time and budget. At the same time, Bladex (Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior) became the first Latin American bank to implement the platform.

ING employs robotic-based solutions to support the efficient and seamless processing of its open account trade solutions, following an overall strategy of embracing disruptive initiatives. The bank has partnered with several trade finance fintechs, other financial institutions, and corporations to develop platform-based solutions for its global clients. ING and Komgo, for example, partnered to enhance Komgo’s Market solution, which went beyond streamlining commodity trade finance transactions to include asset distribution. After months of dynamic collaboration, the offering went live in June 2024.

Offering a platform-agnostic trade finance solution, LiquidX covers the end-to-end trade finance life cycle, from origination to reconciliation, and can accept any invoice and data source format. LiquidX’s digitization technology transforms purchase orders, invoices, policies, and other assets into self-executing smart contracts that deliver upstream and downstream visibility to optimize the working capital cycle. Banks and asset managers both can optimize front, middle-, and back-office functionality, alleviating the efficiency pain points created by cumbersome, paper-heavy workflows. Improved data management allows clients to track data at granular and macro levels via a real-time dashboard.

Haifin (formerly UAE Trade Connect) has been FAB’s brainchild and was developed in partnership with e& (formerly Etisalat Digital) to solve the problem of duplicate or fraudulent financing for FAB and the entire banking fraternity operating in the United Arab Emirates. FAB worked closely with e& to develop haifin to the proof of concept stage and then invited other banks to participate in the development journey. Today, nine banks are part of the consortium, actively participating in haifin by sharing invoice information to detect duplicate financing. They also actively participate in developing the next set of use cases to enhance the system further. Based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), haifin utilizes machine learning, optical character recognition, natural language processing, AI, and robotic process automation. Each bank has a blockchain node hosted on its premises or in a managed services mode by Etisalat.

Santander CIB is a leading player in the ESG bond market, having structured a variety of green, social, sustainable, and sustainability-linked bond transactions across different sectors and geographies, with further live mandates and a growing pipeline. This includes two green guarantees for Conexion Kimal-Lo Aguirre, covering the construction of an 836-mile energy transmission line in Chile to enable the transportation of the increased amount of electricity produced by existing and future renewable energy plants. Santander Peru also originated a pioneer green receivables purchase program for $30 million to help the Peruvian agro-industrial company Camposol meet its commitment to sustainable agricultural practices.

In 2024, Surecomp expanded its reach—onboarding 10 new banks in the UK, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, Ecuador, and the Philippines onto the digital collaborative trade finance platform RIVO. Surecomp continued its collaborative efforts by being the sole provider helping to build and complete test transactions as part of the Swift/ICC API pilot program to create API industry standards for bank guarantees and standby letters of credit. In partnership with Amazon Web Services, Surecomp introduced AI-driven functionality for text-checking guarantees, significantly improving automation and data accuracy for its clients.

Credit Agricole CIB boasts a strong global network and offers a wide range of export finance offerings, including export credits and supplier credits covered totally or in part by an export credit agency (ECA). Multilateral and development banks sponsor or support the financing of commercial loans tied to export contracts and untied loan programs or investment guarantees granted by ECAs.

Innovative transactions include an ECA green loan, ECA bonds, funding vehicles, Sharia-compliant ECA financing, ECA-covered medium- and long-term receivables purchase structure, and ECA facilities with embedded swap. In December 2024, Credit Agricole CIB became the first bank to offer the interoperability solution Komgo Konsole API, allowing the bank to connect easily with corporate clients in a more streamlined manner.

State Bank of India (SBI) is the first Indian public sector bank to register as a financier on the Trade Receivable Discounting System (TReDS) platform, which was set up to provide finance to micro, small, and midsize enterprises (MSMEs). SBI is present on all four TReDS platforms in India. Customer digital journeys, including letters of credit, exports, remittances, and advance payments, have been made available on SBI’s digital platform for business enterprises, yono Business. This platform is synched with e-Trade and e-Forex applications to offer a more seamless experience to the user.

Currently, TDB has principal offices in Burundi and Mauritius, from the latter of which TDB Indian Ocean Member States are covered. In addition, an operations hub in Kenya and regional offices in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and DR Congo cover Eastern, Southern, Northeastern, and Central and West African member states, respectively. The bank offers a range of trade finance solutions, including import and export financing, structured commodity finance, pre- and post-shipment finance, issuance of letters of credit, guarantees and bonds, invoice discounting, and supplier-focused working capital solutions, to sovereign financial institutions and corporate clients in member states.

Present in 33 African countries, Ecobank, via its Single Market Trade Hub, focuses on three broad areas: structured trade and commodity finance, trade services, and supply chain finance. This ensures clients enjoy rapid turnarounds, adequate credit facilities, and supplier financing locally and across regional corridors.

Other services include eTrade and eFSC (electronic financial supply chain). At the same time, MyTradeHub is an online match-making platform enabling importers and exporters to upload their profiles, display the goods and services they require, and connect and contract with buyers and suppliers across Africa.

DBS has created advanced inventory solutions for clients to drive a new era of supply chain resilience. The suite includes pre-export finance, specialized inventory solutions, and trade borrowing-base finance. By offering tailored services and an integrated approach, DBS helps cocreate bespoke solutions that align with supply chain strategies.

Banreservas became the only banking institution in the Dominican Republic to have a guarantee coverage program with the Development Finance Corporation of the United States, worth $42 million. This supports the disbursement of loans up to $84 million to provide financing to women entrepreneurs and MSMEs. In addition, a €100 million (about $105 million) credit line facility with the Instituto de Credito Oficial de España is available for corporate liquidity and sustainability financing.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) boasts an impressive market share in the 12 markets of the region covered by its subsidiary banks. In nine of the 12 countries, RBI has achieved a market share exceeding 10% in import letter of credit volume. Thanks to more than 2,000 banking relationships across over 100 countries, RBI can ensure support for its corporate customers wherever they operate. RBI uses AI to automatically screen incoming Swift messages to identify whether all compliance-relevant information, like shipment route, Harmonized System codes, and country of origin, are present.

With a global footprint of 25 countries, which extends further through a network of more than 2,500 correspondent banks, BBVA is the leading trade finance bank in this region, covering Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. BBVA covers all trade finance segments—wholesale, business, and SME—and takes a partner approach to help clients with their internationalization process. BBVA offers a wide range of trade finance products and has reinforced areas for development with certified experts. In 2023, the BBVA global platform Pivot was deployed in the region.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi and with a global footprint across 20 markets, FAB is a formidable finance and trade gateway to the Middle East and North Africa region. FAB offers traditional trade finance and value-added, customized products, including receivables finance, supply chain finance, and structured trade finance solutions, to exporters, importers, and financial institutions. FAB launched inventory finance solutions in 2021 and has 10 receivables finance programs running, based on a client’s finance requirements.

In addition to offering a wide range of trade finance services, BNY offers its North American client base and complete trade outsourcing services to US regional and international banks. These services can help clients avoid the inflated costs of contracting with third parties, while leveraging BNY’s trade portal, extensive global network, and expertise. BNY offers partial or more-comprehensive outsourcing solutions tailored to a bank’s needs.

ING Trade comprises two units, Working Capital Solutions (WCS) and Trade Finance Services (TFS), and enjoyed robust growth in 2024. The WCS unit focuses on cross-border, global open account solutions through supply chain finance and receivables finance products. TFS covers the global traditional trade business. As a leading sustainable finance bank, ING successfully mobilized over €2 billion in new sustainable trade volumes in 2024.