Advancing the Future of Trade Finance Through AI-Powered Automation
NatWest has announced its partnership with Cleareye.ai, a leading provider of Artificial Intelligence solutions for Trade Finance, to modernize trade operations and strengthen financial crime risk management capabilities at scale.
The initiative represents a significant milestone in NatWest’s broader transformation strategy, focused on delivering superior customer experiences through operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and scalable innovation. By leveraging Cleareye.ai’s flagship platform, ClearTrade®, NatWest is taking a strategic step toward automating complex trade finance workflows, improving operational efficiency, and strengthening risk controls across its trade business. The collaboration supports NatWest’s vision of delivering a simpler, faster, and safer trading experience for its customers while future-proofing trade finance through intelligent automation and risk mitigation.
Transforming Trade Operations with ClearTrade®
Trade Finance remains one of the most document-intensive functions within banking, requiring the processing and validation of large volumes of structured and unstructured information across multiple document types and formats.
Through this collaboration, NatWest will deploy ClearTrade®, Cleareye.ai’s AI-powered Trade Finance platform designed to automate the extraction, classification, and analysis of critical trade data from both digital and paper-based documents. Powered by advanced Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Large Language Models (LLMs), ClearTrade® enables banks to reduce manual intervention, accelerate processing times, improve data quality, and drive greater operational consistency across trade operations.
Key capabilities include:
- Intelligent extraction and classification of trade document data
- Automated processing of digital and paper-based trade documents
- Enhanced workflow efficiency and reduced manual effort
- Improved operational scalability and consistency
- Faster turnaround times for trade transactions
- Better visibility across trade finance operations
Strengthening Compliance and Financial Crime Controls
As regulatory expectations continue to evolve and Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) risks become increasingly sophisticated, financial institutions require smarter tools to manage compliance and risk at scale.
ClearTrade® helps address these challenges by automating trade document examination and compliance checks while providing greater transparency and auditability throughout the trade lifecycle. The platform performs robust compliance screening and TBML checks, enabling financial institutions to strengthen financial crime controls, reduce operational risk, and improve compliance outcomes without compromising efficiency or customer service.
Automated ICC-Compliant Document Examination
A key differentiator of the ClearTrade® platform is its ability to conduct automated trade document examinations in accordance with the rules and practices established by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
These globally recognized standards provide a framework for simplifying, regulating, and standardizing cross-border trade, commercial transactions, and dispute resolution. By automating ICC rule-based document examination, NatWest can:
- Improve document checking accuracy and consistency
- Reduce processing delays and operational bottlenecks
- Minimize compliance exceptions and discrepancies
- Support faster decision-making across trade operations
- Deliver a more seamless customer experience
Leadership Perspectives
Michael Gilham, Trade Product Lead, Commercial and Institutional at NatWest, commented:
“As Britain’s biggest business bank, we’re focused on giving customers the confidence to seize growth opportunities. This partnership will help them trade in foreign markets with greater speed and certainty, while enabling our colleagues to deliver a more personalised and productive service.”
“It will also strengthen protection against fraud and financial crime through innovative technology while helping us provide even better service to our customers.”
“As we embrace leading, innovative technologies, we remain committed to harnessing them responsibly enhancing customer experiences while strengthening our risk and control environment. At every stage, we will prioritise the safety, trust, and wellbeing of our customers and colleagues.”
Mariya George, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Cleareye.ai, added:
“NatWest is leading the way in reimagining Trade Finance, and we are proud to support their innovation journey. ClearTrade® is purpose-built to deliver both automation and compliance outcomes, and we are excited to help NatWest unlock scalable impact for their teams and their clients.”
Driving the Next Generation of Trade Finance
The collaboration between NatWest and Cleareye.ai reflects the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence across Trade Finance and the industry’s shift toward intelligent automation. Together, the organizations are advancing a shared vision of creating faster, safer, and more efficient trade operations while helping businesses navigate an increasingly complex global trade environment.
As financial institutions across North America, Europe, and the MENA region continue their digital transformation journeys, Cleareye.ai remains committed to driving innovation and operational excellence through responsible AI adoption. The partnership with NatWest marks another important step in Cleareye.ai’s mission to help financial institutions build a more intelligent, compliant, and efficient future for global trade finance.
Read more about the NatWest partnership and its impact on the future of Trade Finance: NatWest Official Announcement
Links
NatWest taps Cleareye.ai for trade finance ops | Finextra
NatWest taps Cleareye.ai for ClearTrade tech | Fintech Futures
NatWest partners with Cleareye.ai for AI trade processing | IBS Intelligence
NatWest partners with Cleareye.ai to transform trade operations and strengthen financial crime controls at scale | NatWest Group
Coverage
NatWest partnership with Cleareye.ai seeks to reduce financial crime | Trade Finance Global
NatWest turns to Cleareye.ai as fraud risk mounts | Fintech Global
NatWest and Cleareye.ai partner on AI trade finance platform | The Paypers
NatWest Taps AI to Overhaul Trade Operations | Finance Chief
NatWest taps Cleareye.ai to overhaul trade finance | RegTech Analyst
NatWest Partners with Cleareye.ai to Automate Trade Finance | FinTech Magazine
NatWest inks AI deal for trade finance | Computer Weekly
NatWest partners with Cleareye.ai to transform trade operations and strengthen financial crime controls at scale | Business Money
NatWest: partners with Cleareye.ai to transform trade operations and strengthen financial crime controls at scale | MarketScreener
