NatWest partners with Cleareye.ai for AI trade processing

NatWest has partnered with Cleareye.ai to modernise its trade operations and strengthen its financial crime risk controls, in a move that has been framed as part of the bank’s wider push for operational resilience and better customer service.

The UK lender has said it will implement ClearTrade, Cleareye.ai’s AI-powered platform, to automate the extraction and classification of key data from complex trade documents in both digital and paper form. The system has been designed to streamline document handling, reduce manual work and improve the speed and accuracy of trade processing.

Michael Gilham, Trade Product Lead, Commercial and Institutional at NatWest, said, “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 by using innovative technology to enable us to provide better service to our customers.”

The platform has also been set to carry out automated checks against International Chamber of Commerce rules, which have been used to standardise cross-border trade documentation and procedures. In addition, it has been built to support compliance reviews and trade-based money laundering checks, helping NatWest strengthen oversight and reduce operational risk.

Mariya George, Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder of Cleareye.ai, said, “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.”

The partnership has marked another step in the bank’s effort to use intelligent automation across more complex back-office processes, while keeping pace with regulatory demands in global trade. It has also reflected a broader shift in banking, where FinTech tools are increasingly being applied to improve accuracy, speed and control in areas that have traditionally relied on heavy manual checks.