They’re relatively easy to forge, often get lost and can add huge amounts of time to the intricate maze through which international commerce is transacted. Yet paper documents still rule in the $25 trillion market for global merchandise trade.
That system — where the exchange of physical bills-of-lading has gone on for centuries — remains a risk for the companies involved. According to one estimate, at least 1% of transactions in the world’s trade-financing market are fraudulent.