The Future of Trade Finance: Unlocking Business Value with Cloud and AI

The latest wave of business and operating model transformation in corporate banking is underway in one of the oldest domains of international commerce: trade finance. At the heart of global commerce, trade finance provides the financial instruments and products for importers and exporters to conduct business reliably and with minimum risk. For a long time, trade finance has been underinvested in, but it is now undergoing rapid and fundamental change, thanks to the advent of cloud and AI technologies.

Modernizing Trade Finance with Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services

At Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services, we are dedicated to helping banks and other financial institutions modernize and take full advantage of cloud and AI technologies. We offer a secure, compliant, scalable infrastructure tailored to support financial services and unlock new benefits and opportunities.

Unlocking Business Value and Deepening Customer Relationships

Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services is designed to help banks and financial institutions unlock business value and deepen customer relationships. Our platform provides a secure, compliant, and scalable infrastructure that can support a wide range of financial services, from trade finance to risk management and compliance.

The Evolution of Banking: How Data Became the Third Leg of Bank Business Models

From its inception, banking has always been a business of data – its movement and processing, and the insights derived therefrom. As financial intermediaries, banks have survived for centuries based on data at the heart of a two-sided business model: taking deposits (liability ledger) and making loans (risk assets). Profit was the lucrative spread between these two pillars.

The Rise of Modern Real-Time Data Economy

Technology has been integral to data management since the rudiments of data processing automation and Management Information System (MIS) dashboards. However, the rise of the modern real-time data economy has completely altered the environment for regional and smaller banks where skilled staff are fewer and transactions are less frequent. Moreover, increasing demand for trade financing by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing nations is a significant driver of market growth.

The Benefits of Modernization

The benefits of modernization impact banks of every size and geography. To help understand how your organization can explore the new opportunities, begin by engaging with your Microsoft representative. They can help develop strategies and solutions that deliver immediate and long-term benefits to meet your bank’s unique needs.

About the Author

Peter Hazou is the Director of Business Development at Microsoft, responsible for corporate and commercial banking. A career banker, he was the EMEA Regional Head of GTB at HSBC and the CEEMEA Regional Head for GTS at Citigroup, and previously served as Head of Strategy for transaction banking at UniCredit in Milan. He began his career in New York as a credit officer at Manufacturers Hanover Trust.

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