Project Futures – Innovation in International Trade

The Project Futures workshop in December 2018 focused on the innovations and technologies that are opening up opportunities for international trade and its transformational impact upon the new payments landscape.

The focus of the discussion was to explore the disruptive innovations and technologies that are or will be relevant in shaping international trade finance and global commerce, the impact that these innovations will have upon the payments ecosystem, and the social and commercial drivers which will enable these innovations to flourish. Our discussions were scoped to consider payments product developments and enabling technologies that are already visible or emerging, and which therefore have potential to offer tangible benefits at scale over a 3-5- year horizon and beyond.

The half-day workshop was structured around three sessions on:
• Evolving business models and the role of regulation in international trade finance
• The role of disruptive innovation in identity & standards for enabling international trade
• The impact of increasingly international trade upon consumers, SMEs and society

This report is one of a series of four produced by the The Payments Association in 2018. It highlights the content of the discussion, the insights derived and the conclusions drawn. These conclusions highlight the direction of travel for the payments industry as it develops and how the ecosystem will fundamentally change in light of new technologies and innovations.

Thank you to the Benefactor behind this project, FICO, the facilitators, EFT Associates, the report author and Payments Association member, Huntswood, and the workshop participants.