SmartLC v2: What 18 Months of Real-World LC Processing Taught Us
When we launched SmartLC, we thought we knew what exporters needed. We had the right problem — managing Letters of Credit with email, Word templates, and spreadsheets is broken. But it took 18 months of watching real users handle real LCs to understand what the solution actually needed to be.
Version 1 proved the concept. Version 2 is what we built after learning where the real pain actually lives — not where we assumed it was, but where we watched it happen.
Here's what changed, and why.
AI document checking — rebuilt from the ground up
Our first compliance engine flagged problems. Version 2 explains them. Four layers of checking now run on every document you upload: LC terms, UCP 600 implied requirements, Field 47A additional conditions, and cross-document consistency.
Every discrepancy is severity-rated with the specific UCP 600 article reference. Not a vague warning — a precise explanation of what doesn't match, what the LC requires, and what the document shows. We learned early that flagging a problem without explaining it just creates a different kind of confusion. Now you decide whether to resolve it, waive it, or request an amendment. Every action is logged.
Smart pre-fill — because most errors happen in the retyping
This is something we didn't fully appreciate until we watched it happen repeatedly. The errors that generate 60–75% of first-presentation rejections aren't mistakes of understanding — they're mistakes of transcription. Someone retyping a goods description from the LC into an invoice. Someone copying a port name from one document to another and getting a letter wrong.
When you generate a document in SmartLC v2, it pre-fills from two sources: the LC terms and data already extracted from other documents in the same shipment. The invoice description matches the LC because the system copies it directly. The port names match because they come from the same source. The errors are eliminated at the point of creation, not caught after the fact.
House rules — because every bank is different
This feature exists because our users told us about it. The same document that one bank accepts, another rejects. "Pcs" vs "units." Slight variations in goods descriptions. Bank-specific preferences that aren't written in any rulebook but that experienced exporters carry around in their heads.
House rules now sit alongside the standard UCP 600 checks. If you know that a particular bank treats "pcs" and "units" as different terms, SmartLC remembers. One click to create a rule, applied across all future LCs. Institutional knowledge that used to walk out the door when someone left — now it stays in the system.
LC instrument review — catch problems before you start
Before you prepare a single document, the AI reviews the LC itself for structural risks — missing mandatory fields, impossible timelines, contradictory conditions, prohibited transhipment on routes where it's operationally unavoidable. Each issue is rated and comes with a specific recommendation.
We added this because we kept seeing users spend days preparing documents against an LC that had fundamental problems in it. The earlier you catch a structural issue, the less work gets wasted.
The trade inbox
Every user gets a personalised trade email address. When an email arrives from a bank, insurer, or shipping line, AI identifies which LC it belongs to, classifies any attachments, and files everything into the correct LC folder. Documents are checked automatically on arrival.
This one came from watching how much time people spend searching email for documents they know exist somewhere. The inbox doesn't replace your email — it gives your LC documents a home that isn't a folder called "LC stuff" in Outlook.
Critical dates — tracked, not hoped for
Expiry, latest shipment, presentation deadline, amendment deadlines — tracked automatically. No calendar entries to maintain, no spreadsheet to update, no deadline to calculate manually and hope you got the maths right.
Who it's for
Exporters who handle LC shipments regularly and want to stop losing time and money to preventable discrepancies. Freight companies who manage LC documentation on behalf of their clients and need a system that scales beyond one person's memory.
If you're processing more than a few LC shipments a month and your current system involves searching email to find the latest version of an LC, SmartLC v2 will save you hours per shipment and discrepancy fees per quarter.
What it isn't
It isn't a banking platform. SmartLC sits on the corporate side — the exporter's desk, the freight company's office — where the documents are prepared and the deadlines are tracked. That's where the gap has always been.
What happens next
We're onboarding companies now. If you've paid discrepancy fees you didn't need to pay, missed a deadline you shouldn't have missed, or lost institutional knowledge when someone left — we built this for you.
Get in touch at hello@smartlc.ai or visit smartlc.ai to see it for yourself.
David Berney is the founder of SmartLC, a trade finance platform for managing the Letter of Credit lifecycle.