essDOCS, the leading enabler of paperless trade, announced today the launch of its consulting arm, essDOCS Consulting, as part of focused efforts to expand and optimize usage of digital transaction documents and FinTech solutions by banks and their corporate customers across the globe.

essDOCS Consulting is set up to support:

• Banks in the transition from the current “as is” paper-based supply chain finance environment towards a futureproof “to be” paperless trade handling set up – thus enabling the gradual adoption of electronic documents (eDocs) and FinTech solutions for their trade transaction and supply chain finance processes.
• Companies in optimizing their working capital usage and risk mitigation abilities by fully utilizing the capabilities of FinTech solutions such as eDocs and Bank Payment Obligations (BPOs) - further enabling trade automation through digitisation and standard multi-bank messaging.

As of October 1 2015, Jacco De Jong, former Commercial Director at Tradewiz, will serve as Managing Director of the newly-launched consulting arm, whilst still maintaining an advisory role to the board of TradeWiz. 

Jacco brings with him a wealth of knowledge and expertise in both the trade finance and technology space, having advised major banks and organizations in his capacity as Commercial Director of TradeWiz for over a decade, in addition to possessing over 25 years’ experience in the banking sector through his varying capacities as advisor, VP and certified trade & supply chain finance specialist for corporates as well as many commercial and development banks across the globe.

Jacco de Jong, Managing Director, essDOCS Consulting, said: “I am delighted to join and run essDOCS Consulting. essDOCS’ solutions have been adopted by companies and banks at lightning speed, marking an impressive momentum shift into FinTech. Our aim is to assist in these transitions, which aren’t always easy for banks or corporates.”

essDOCS Consulting will be based near Amsterdam, Netherlands, creating a fourth office for essDOCS in Europe and becoming the seventh essDOCS office location globally. 

Ashley Skaanild, Head of Trade Finance, essDOCS, said: ”We are increasingly focused on delivering FinTech solutions for the supply chain as seen by our expansion from eUCP Presentation to eDoc Collections and most recently BPO+.  Assisting banks and corporates to adopt and maximize the benefits of our own and third party FinTech solutions is an obvious next step for essDOCS.”

The essDOCS Consulting portfolio will also include customized training services to meet the specific needs of clients, ranging from in-house training sessions to external, tailor-made workshops managed and moderated on behalf of customers.