BRAC Bank goes live with Finastra and Conpend Trade AI Solutions

By Divya Shah

Why it matters: The implementation highlights rising demand for digital trade finance platforms that improve efficiency and transparency. By combining automation, AI and customer self-service capabilities, BRAC Bank has reduced operational complexity while supporting regulatory compliance.

BRAC Bank has gone live with Finastra’s Trade Innovation and Corporate Channels solutions, alongside Conpend’s Trade AI technology, creating a more connected trade finance environment for the bank and its corporate customers.

The deployment was undertaken to modernise BRAC Bank’s trade finance operations, improve efficiency and establish a scalable foundation for future growth. As trade volumes continue to increase and customer expectations evolve, the bank replaced fragmented processes with an integrated digital platform designed to streamline trade finance workflows.

The new platform has increased straight-through processing and enhanced visibility across the trade finance lifecycle, providing a more efficient operating model for the bank. It also delivers extensive digital trade capabilities, enabling faster deployment of new services while supporting compliance with evolving industry requirements, including ISO 20022 and Swift SR2026 standards.

Tareq Refat Ullah Khan, Managing Director & CEO of BRAC Bank PLC, said, “By digitising and streamlining trade operations, we are enhancing transparency, control and efficiency across the trade finance lifecycle, enabling us to serve our corporate clients with greater speed and reliability. This advanced trade solution brings us closer to our ambition of becoming the most preferred trade bank in Bangladesh by consistently delivering superior value to our customers.”

The platform also offers corporate customers a single digital channel to initiate requests, collaborate securely, approve transactions and track trade transactions in real time. This has improved visibility, control and operational efficiency while maintaining governance and oversight.

Andrew Bateman, EVP for Lending at Finastra, said, “As trade finance continues to play a vital role in supporting businesses and economic growth, banks are seeking technology that simplifies operations while delivering a better customer experience. Through our front-to-back trade finance capabilities, the bank has established a modern and scalable platform that increases operational efficiency, enhances visibility across the trade lifecycle, and delivers a more connected experience for its corporate customers.”

Built on an open and scalable architecture, the solution supports BRAC Bank’s long-term digital transformation strategy. It provides the flexibility to expand capabilities, manage growing transaction volumes and adopt new technologies as business requirements evolve.