Standard Chartered completes first ICC-Swift API Standards digital bank guarantee transaction through Komgo

Singapore – Standard Chartered has successfully completed its industry standard API-based bank guarantee transaction for a global energy company via Komgo’s Konsole, a leading multi-bank trade finance platform. The landmark transaction adopts the newly launched Industry standard ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees.

Fully compliant with ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees, the transaction marks a significant step towards creating a fully interoperable and integrated digital bank guarantee ecosystem, reducing friction and supporting the digital transformation in global trade.

Standard Chartered is among the first global banks to adopt and operationalise the new ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees and embed it in a live client trade workflow. By enabling real-time connectivity between Komgo’s Konsole and the Bank, it simplified integration and addressed the challenge of multiple API connectivity making this transaction possible. This integration automates the receipt of instructions and accelerates the issuance of digitally initiated bank guarantees, offering clients greater speed, transparency and reliability.

The solution was first executed through Standard Chartered UK and will be progressively extended to clients across all the group’s markets. This reflects the Bank’s commitment to client-centric innovation and its leadership in the digitisation of trade finance.

This milestone highlights Komgo’s ability to integrate seamlessly with financial institutions in alignment with the ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees, reinforcing its role as a scalable enabler of industry-wide connectivity and automation.

Nicolas Djelalilan, APAC Managing Director at Komgo, commented: “The adoption of the ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees by Standard Chartered demonstrates the industry’s shift from theory to practice. Standardisation and interoperability are now live realities, and we are proud to collaborate with Standard Chartered to unlock efficiency, transparency, and scale for their clients.”

Samuel Mathew, Global Head, Documentary Trade at Standard Chartered, said: “Standard Chartered has always combined innovation and digitisation with strong client focus. We are delighted to be among the first banks to commercialise the ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees, which we helped develop in collaboration with ICC, Swift, member banks and fintechs in the ICC-Swift API working group. We are playing our part by making digital guarantees more accessible to our multi-banked clients whilst driving operational efficiencies and building a future-ready, globally interoperable trade ecosystem.”

The ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees, introduced in 2024, are the first industry-wide API specifications to be applied in trade finance. This enables real-time visibility, greater interoperability, and seamless integration of digital bank guarantees across banks, corporates, and platforms.

Komgo is a global digital trade finance platform that streamlines corporate-to-bank trade finance communication and enhances efficiency for both corporates and financial institutions. Its award-winning, API-powered solutions form part of the market’s leading multi-bank offering. By providing an interoperable system that integrates seamlessly with banks and corporates alike, Komgo enables straight-through processing for faster, more secure digital trade finance worldwide.

For further information, please contact:

Rami Lawand
Standard Chartered

Alvina Neo
Standard Chartered

Tim Tran
Komgo

About Komgo
Komgo is a global fintech that digitalises and automates trade finance operations for corporates and financial institutions. Through its network and SaaS applications, Komgo improves connectivity across the trade ecosystem and digitalises the management of all trade finance instruments, such as bank guarantees, SBLCs, letters of credit, and a wide range of other financing operations.