London, UK [10th March, 2026] NOBO and Applied Blockchain have completed Phase 1 participation in the Bank of England’s Digital Pound Lab, designing and delivering a payment workflow to explore how conditional business-to-business payments could support more efficient and accessible cross-border trade finance for SMEs.

NOBO defined and structured the trade finance use cases, and Applied Blockchain led the technical architecture, design, build and integration for the Digital Pound Lab demo. The implementation incorporated Silent Data, its high-performance, hardware-protected Ethereum Layer 2 for programmable privacy, which was integrated directly with the Digital Pound Lab platform. The architecture demonstrated interoperability between digital pound-style settlement infrastructure and public blockchain systems, while preserving commercial confidentiality – a critical requirement for regulated trade finance workflows.

SME trade finance remains one of the most underserved segments in global financial services. Processes are slow, opaque and operationally heavy, limiting the ability of lenders and investors to serve smaller exporters at scale. The project explored how conditional payment features, as made available in the Lab could reduce settlement uncertainty and simplify the operational complexity that currently restricts SME financing volumes.

The collaboration focused on two common SME financing structures: supplier invoice financing for overseas exporters selling to UK importers, and milestone-based financing for UK exporters supported by a guarantee structure.

The work reinforced a core insight that is central to NOBO’s commercial strategy. When payment conditions are clear and verifiable, lenders and investors can operate with greater confidence, and SMEs can access financing earlier and on better terms. This is one of the largest structural barriers in SME trade finance today, and it is a barrier that programmable payment features, when applied responsibly, could help address.

“Our objective in the Lab was to understand how programmable payment features could align with the real workflows that SMEs and their financiers use every day,” said Ayo Ojerinola, Founder and CEO of NOBO. “The experience helped us validate where conditional payments might reduce friction in trade finance and where digital infrastructure could support more predictable and transparent settlement for smaller exporters.”

“This project demonstrates how programmable infrastructure can be applied to real financial workflows,” said Adi Ben-Ari, Founder and CEO of Applied Blockchain. “We designed and delivered a conditional settlement architecture aligned to how trade finance actually operates, integrating digital pound-style payment logic with public blockchain infrastructure while preserving commercial privacy. For SME finance to scale sustainably, settlement systems must support structured conditionality without compromising confidentiality.”

The Digital Pound Lab is a research and experimentation environment established by the Bank of England to support exploration of potential applications of a digital pound using simulated infrastructure. Participation in the Lab does not imply endorsement by the Bank of England.

About NOBO

NOBO Finance Limited is a UK-based fintech building one of the first dedicated trade finance infrastructure platforms focused on SME cross-border trade. The company structures, verifies, and settles export transactions through compliant digital workflows and multi-rail settlement, enabling finance-ready deals for institutional participation.

Learn more: www.nobofinance.co.uk

Contact: info@nobofinance.co.uk

About Applied Blockchain

Applied Blockchain is a trusted partner to enterprises and institutions building sophisticated blockchain platforms, with over a decade of experience in consulting, architecture and delivery. Founded in 2015, the London-based development studio has delivered over 150 platforms across finance, supply chain, energy, and healthcare for clients including Shell, Barclays, and the United Nations.

Applied Blockchain is also the creator of Silent Data, a high-performance, hardware-protected Ethereum Layer 2 for programmable privacy in regulated enterprise and Web3 applications.

Learn more: www.appliedblockchain.com | www.silentdata.com or contact info@appliedblockchain.com