NatWest adopts Cleareye.ai to automate trade finance checks

NatWest is rolling out Cleareye.ai to automate checks on trade finance documents and to run AI-driven screening for trade-based money laundering, the bank announced. The software will verify transactions against International Chamber of Commerce rules and apply machine learning to flag TBML risks.

Trade finance typically involves large cross-border payments and multiple parties, with manual review of contracts, shipping documents and invoices. NatWest expects the automation to speed processing and reduce paperwork for corporate clients.

The bank’s trade product team integrated Cleareye.ai into its trade finance systems. Michael Gilham, trade product lead for commercial and institutional banking at NatWest, described the technology as helping business customers trade in foreign markets with greater speed and certainty and strengthening protection against fraud and financial crime.

NatWest framed the deployment as part of efforts to build operational resilience, adopt advanced technologies and meet global regulatory requirements.

The roll-out follows a broader AI program at NatWest. In 2025 the bank reported that software engineers produced about 35% of new code using AI development tools, all 60,000 employees were given access to AI productivity software, and thousands of human hours were saved. The bank also entered a major collaboration with OpenAI.

Other UK banks have used Cleareye.ai: Lloyds Bank contracted the firm in 2024 to automate checks of digital and paper documentation. Banks report growing demand for AI in back-office and compliance functions where data is complex and volumes are high.

Industry research and recent bank announcements point to wider labor impacts. A survey by Zopa and Juniper Research projected generative AI could save 187 million labor hours and potentially displace about 27,000 jobs by 2030, mainly in back-office roles. Commerzbank announced plans to cut about 3,000 roles as it increases AI investment and expects returns from that spending in the years ahead.

A Lloyds Banking Group survey for 2025 found 59% of firms reported AI-driven productivity gains in the previous 12 months, up from 32% the year before. The survey showed 21% of respondents believe AI is directly driving business growth, compared with 8% a year earlier; about a third said AI is improving customer experience and providing deeper customer insights.

NatWest’s deployment targets document compliance and TBML detection in trade finance. The bank said it will monitor processing times, fraud detection rates and staffing effects as it scales the new tools.