(21 April 2026 – Global) While trade finance remains stubbornly dependent on paper-heavy processes despite vigorous efforts by banks and regulators to hasten digital transformation, this reality is changing rapidly with the wide scale adoption of AI.
A glimpse of what the future may hold can be seen in a collaborative effort involving leading trade banks including HSBC, ANZ, and Lloyds working with Microsoft. Specifically, a new prototype is demonstrating how agentic AI can solve longstanding problems while enabling more seamless, embedded client experiences.
The primary goal is a “single source of truth”. An average international trade shipment can involve up to 50 separate documents exchanged between as many as 30 different stakeholders. The result is an avalanche of paper. More than four billion documents are estimated to move through the global trade system every day and only one to two percent of these are handled digitally.
Microsoft has built a technology proof-of-concept (POC) solution that demonstrates how AI agents, powered by LLMs, hold the potential to transform trade workflows. The prototype demonstrates how AI can be embedded directly into ERP systems to extract, validate, and digitally transmit structured trade data to banks, enabling seamless, standards-based integration.
“Trade digitalisation is a journey but what’s exciting is that the solutions already exist today. Through the POC, we validated that the technology is ready and the outcomes are achievable now. The next step is clear: continuing to work with the trade finance community to embrace what’s possible and drive greater inclusion across global trade. Thank you to Microsoft for the opportunity and partnership. It was great to work with HSBC and Lloyds. Looking forward to how we take this forward together” commented ANZ Head of B2B Payables Propositions and Trade Digitalisation, Damian Kwok.
“ANZ is exploring opportunities to apply AI in ways that can support business processes and enhance customer experience. Where appropriate, we aim to move beyond the role of a back-end transaction processor to deliver trade finance as a seamless part of client existing workflows. By safely and responsibly integrating AI into corporate ERP systems, our goal is to offer a more intuitive, built-in trade finance experience” said ANZ Head of Industry and Innovation, Transaction Banking, Institutional, Hari Janakiraman.
“Trade finance is still overwhelmingly document-driven, which is why the industry needs practical interoperability: common data standards and consistent, bank-defined data sets that exporters, from small businesses to large multinationals, can exchange electronically. This proof of concept shows how aligning to frameworks like the ICC’s Key Trade Documents and Data Elements can reduce discrepancies and help move validated data securely from ERP to bank platforms, making trade more accessible and efficient for companies of all sizes” stated HSBC Chief Product Officer, Global Trade Solutions, Bhriguraj Singh.
“This new development creates a strong opportunity to improve the trade finance ecosystem by moving away from paper being transferred between parties to simply exchanging data. By using open standards (aligned, structured data for key trade documents), we can integrate more easily with clients’ technology and logistics partners. Combined with AI-driven data exchange through the Microsoft connector, this allows information to flow securely and accurately between platforms. We are committed to building a more connected and collaborative digital trade environment, and this approach is an important step forward” stated Lloyds Head of Transaction Banking Products, Surath Sengupta.
By enabling direct, standards-aligned data exchange between corporates and banks, this kind of solution potentially helps to:
- Reduce document discrepancies by validating data at the source.
- Improve accuracy and auditability through structured, machine-readable data and end-to-end traceability.
- Support standards-driven interoperability across ERP systems, bank platforms, and logistics networks.
- Shorten time to funding by eliminating paper dependencies and courier delays.
- Strengthen risk management and compliance by automatically checking trade data against rules and watchlists.