Deutsche Bank has become the first European bank to gain approval from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) to join its pilot scheme for the facilitation of foreign exchange receipts and payments for trade, which aims to simplify and improve foreign currency payments for cross-border trades.

Under the scheme, eligible clients of Deutsche Bank China (Shanghai branch) will be exempt from providing supporting documents for foreign currency trade payment upfront, allowing a straight-through payment processing upon the client’s e-banking instruction. Compared with the traditional payment procedure, this cuts the foreign currency payment process time from days to just a few minutes.

The bank completed its first foreign currency payment under the pilot scheme for automotive technology firm Aptiv on September 30.

Says Jerry Chen, Aptiv chief financial officer for Asia-Pacific: “Cross-border foreign exchange payments have been a lengthy process for corporates. With Deutsche Bank’s pilot scheme services, we see the direct benefits with faster and easier payments.”

Alvin Ho, Deutsche Bank China’s head of corporate cash management, adds: “The successful approval for the foreign currency trade payments pilot scheme is solid testimony to our local market expertise and commitment. Deutsche Bank in Shanghai is one of only a few banks that offer clients both capital account and trade account pilot solutions. We will continue to leverage our information technology capabilities to provide convenient, efficient, and secure one-stop cross-border payment solutions to our clients.”