Breaking Barriers in Trade Finance – Enabled through EBICS

Brückner Group, UniCredit, and Mitigram collaborate to pioneer EBICS-driven trade finance transformation — a model for digital efficiency across Europe.

67% faster guarantee processing

Up to 40% lower bank-side turnaround time

100% EBICS-powered communications for guarantees and L/Cs
Seamless bank integration – minimal IT lift

A First-of-Its-Kind Collaboration in European Trade Finance

Brückner Group, a global leader in engineering and manufacturing headquartered in Germany, set out to modernise its trade finance operations. Despite their scale and sophistication, the company was still relying on fragmented digital tools, paper-based documentation, and inconsistent communication across its banking partners. These legacy processes were no longer fit for purpose in an increasingly digital and regulated trade environment.

At the same time, UniCredit identified a strategic opportunity to unlock more value from EBICS. As one of Europe’s earliest adopters of the protocol, the bank had already demonstrated leadership in using EBICS for payments. Now, it sought to extend that same standard to support corporate guarantees and letters of credit, bringing much-needed consistency to how trade finance messages are exchanged.

This shared ambition laid the groundwork for a breakthrough collaboration. Together with Mitigram, Brückner and UniCredit embarked on a project to integrate EBICS into a centralised, multi-bank transaction management platform. The result was a scalable, secure, and transparent model for trade finance automation-designed to meet the evolving demands of both corporates and financial institutions.

"Using the EBICS channel can save us up to 40% in processing times, depending on the type of guarantee requested."

The Turning Point and What Came Next

Brückner Group and UniCredit did more than modernise their trade finance operations. They initiated a structural shift in how corporates and banks communicate, leveraging EBICS not only for payments but as a fully-fledged channel for guarantees and letters of credit. Their objective was clear: streamline transaction flows, reduce manual intervention, and enable end-to-end visibility across multiple banking partners.

What started as a tactical response to inefficiencies evolved into a strategic transformation with broader industry relevance. The project demonstrated that EBICS, when applied beyond its traditional scope, can deliver secure, standardised, and automated trade finance communication between corporates and banks. This marked a critical step forward for scalable, digital-first treasury operations.

The implementation journey was not without its challenges. Legal frameworks, message standardisation, and internal alignment across treasury and bank-side teams required careful coordination. Yet, by combining operational discipline with a clear technical roadmap, the project team delivered one of the most advanced EBICS trade finance integrations seen in the European market.

This wasn’t just a system upgrade. It was a foundational shift — and a test of whether existing infrastructure, like EBICS, could support modern, real-time, multi-party workflows at scale.

This case study outlines the process in detail. It explores the decisions made, the technical and regulatory considerations addressed, and the measurable outcomes achieved through collaboration.

Read the full case here

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