Lloyds Bank announced the start of a partnership with the artificial intelligence platform Cleareye.ai.
The collaboration between a financial institution headquartered in London and a technology company based in Los Angeles was announced on Tuesday, September 3. The parties to the partnership claim that their interaction will be the first such practice in the United Kingdom. In this case, the peculiarity of cooperation lies in the fact that artificial intelligence technologies will be used to perform operations such as streamlining processing and checking compliance with trade finance documentation. Starting from the current month, the bank will introduce ClearTrade technology. The corresponding information is contained in the joint press release of the artificial intelligence platform and the financial institution.
The mentioned press release reports that the specified advanced technology will use optical character recognition (OCR), machine learning, and natural language processing algorithms to extract important information from trade documentation. In this case, operations such as digital and paper-based import and export documentary letters of credit, documentary collections, undertakings, and trade loans are meant.
Also, the technology Cleareye.ai based on artificial intelligence, will perform automated document examination. In this case, operations will be performed in keeping with the International Chamber of Commerce Rules for Documentary Credits and Collections. Artificial intelligence-based technology will also carry out critical compliance checks, for example, checks to identify transactions aimed at money laundering. The corresponding information is contained in the press release.
Rogier van Lammeren, head of trade and working capital products at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, says that the financial institution is constantly looking for ways to help clients, aimed at providing its customers with the opportunity to trade simpler, more efficiently, and faster. He also noted separately that the lender’s cooperation with the artificial intelligence platform contributes to the achievement of the mentioned goals. According to him, the use of machine intelligence technologies allows the bank to streamline the most important part of trade finance processes that are important to customers.
It is worth noting that currently there is a tendency to scale the introduction of artificial intelligence into the financial industry and the functional infrastructure of the trading environment. Advanced technology is gradually becoming the most effective tool for companies that seek to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. The use of artificial intelligence means that firms have access to solutions that increase the level of efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of compliance management.
It is worth noting that traditional compliance management methods often turn out to be ineffective. In this case, the reasons for the corresponding negative specifics are circumstances such as manual processes and retrospective analysis. Traditional approaches within the framework of compliance management practices are also time-consuming. Besides, the so-called human factor, which in a certain sense permanently contains the risk of errors and various inaccuracies, is what can be called insurmountable circumstances in the context of the mentioned manual processes. The practice of using artificial intelligence eliminates the corresponding disadvantages, increasing the level of accuracy, which ultimately has a beneficial effect on performance indicators. In a certain sense, machine intelligence transforms the compliance management process from a concept of responding to emerging errors and deficiencies into a preventive action strategy characterized by internal coordination and a well-functioning algorithm.
Last month, Lloyds Bank named Amazon Web Services (AWS) veteran Rohit Dhawan to oversee its AI Center of Excellence, which will facilitate the implementation of artificial intelligence-based products and services in the functional ecosystem of a financial institution. Ranil Boteju, the bank’s chief data and analytics officer, said that this appointment is a significant boost for the strategic development of machine intelligence technology and capabilities. In this context, Rohit Dhawan’s experience in the area of technology implementation and change at the right pace and scale was mentioned separately.
An AWS veteran will work across the entire business of a financial institution. Its activities will be aimed at implementing efforts to further integrate the outcomes of artificial intelligence into the bank’s priority directions of operations. In this case, the financial institution has the goal of consistently scaling machine intelligence and implementing the plans provided for by its business strategy.
The integration of artificial intelligence technologies into the banking environment is no longer what can be described as a rare or limited-spread experiment or as an innovation of small-scale use. AI is gradually becoming a standard tool in the context of operations performed in the space of digital ecosystems of financial institutions. With a high degree of probability, over time, artificial intelligence will transform into the main technological platform in the area of banking.
