How the Powerful Duo of AI and Low-code is Transforming Trade Finance

The Powerful Duo of AI and Low Code in Transforming Trade Finance

A Joint Perspective by Virtusa and Newgen Software

Trade Finance: The Foundation of Global Commerce

Global trade remains the backbone of the world economy, with up to 90 percent of international trade supported by trade finance. It bridges the gap between production and payment, ensuring that goods and services move seamlessly across borders. Yet, despite its importance, traditional trade finance continues to rely on manual, paper-driven, and error-prone processes.

Document verification, compliance checks, and credit risk assessments consume significant time and resources. In fact, 60 to 80 percent of processing effort in trade finance is spent on pre-processing activities from document scrutiny to customer communication. This lack of automation creates bottlenecks, increases operational risk, and impacts customer experience.

The result is a growing disconnect between customer expectations for real-time, digital experiences and banks’ legacy systems, which remain slow, opaque, and fragmented.

The Need for Transformation

The trade finance industry faces multiple challenges that demand a strategic response:

• Manual inefficiencies leading to delays and operational errors.
• Lack of transparency causing disputes and trust issues among stakeholders.
• Increasing regulatory scrutiny requiring faster compliance checks.
• Customer expectations for instant, paperless transactions and digital collaboration.

While banks recognize the need for modernization, progress has been slow. Many still depend on outdated systems that hinder flexibility, scalability, and customer engagement. The need for an AI- and low-code-powered transformation has never been clearer.

Drivers of Change

1. Customer-Centricity: The modern treasurer demands real-time visibility, automated processes, and proactive notifications.
2. Regulatory Push: Global bodies are promoting digitization standards for trade documentation.
3. Competitive Pressure: Fintech and non-bank entities are offering faster, smarter alternatives.
4. Revenue and Cost Dynamics: Automation directly impacts margins by reducing operational costs and turnaround time.

To stay relevant, banks must move beyond incremental upgrades and embrace a holistic digital transformation built on AI and low code.

The AI and Low-Code Advantage

Modern trade finance platforms integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and low-code automation to simplify complex workflows, improve accuracy, and accelerate transaction processing.

Here’s how this powerful combination is reshaping trade finance:

1. Effortless Document Management

AI-powered document processing automates validation for invoices, bills of lading, transport documents, and certificates. These systems:

• Auto-scrutinize trade documents for data consistency.
• Centralize trade-related activities across systems.
• Reduce human error and speed up processing.

2. Enhanced Risk Assessment

AI models analyze historical trade data, customer behavior, and market conditions to provide real-time credit and risk insights far more accurate than traditional scoring methods.

3. Real-Time Tracking and Transparency

AI and low-code platforms enable end-to-end transaction visibility, helping all stakeholders monitor progress, flag exceptions, and reduce disputes.

4. Automated Compliance Checks

With built-in regulatory intelligence, platforms ensure that all trade transactions comply with international standards (such as UCP, ICC, and AML guidelines). This reduces the risk of non-compliance and associated penalties.

5. Customization and Scalability

Low-code configurability allows financial institutions to design tailored workflows, adapt to local regulations, and scale operations globally without heavy development cycles.

The Business Impact of AI and Low Code

Banks adopting this digital model realize significant operational and financial benefits:

AI and low-code platforms transform trade finance from a manual back-office function into a strategic growth enabler.

How Banks Are Adapting

Leading banks are already reimagining their trade operations by:

• Launching digital collaboration tools and chatbots for better customer engagement.
• Implementing multi-year legacy transformation programs to modernize core systems.
• Reengineering trade workflows for straight-through processing.
• Exploring Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and subscription-based models for trade platforms.

The shift is no longer just technological it’s cultural, driven by the need to align with customer expectations and market dynamics.

The Virtusa–Newgen Partnership

To help financial institutions achieve this transformation, Virtusa and Newgen Software have partnered to offer a powerful, future-ready trade finance platform that blends AI with low-code agility.

Virtusa’s digital engineering and consulting expertise, combined with Newgen’s industry-leading Trade Finance solution, enables banks to automate, centralize, and modernize trade operations with minimal disruption.

Key Features of the Joint Solution

• Unified front and back office with seamless integration.
• End-to-end automation of trade finance processes.
• SWIFT-certified and GPI-compliant for global interoperability.
• Built-in regulatory compliance for local and central bank standards.
• AI-powered document scrutiny and intelligent record management.
• Blockchain-ready infrastructure for secure, traceable transactions.
• Real-time alerts, exception tracking, and deviation management.
• ESG-grade facilitation to support sustainable trade finance practices.

Why the Partnership Works

Virtusa brings 35,000 digital engineers and consultants who specialize in core modernization and domain expertise.

Newgen contributes its AI-driven low-code digital transformation platform recognized by Forrester and Gartner for its process automation, content services, and communication management capabilities.

Together, they deliver:

• Faster deployment and customization.
• Enhanced compliance and security.
• Streamlined operations through automation.
• Superior customer and user experiences.

The Future of Trade Finance

The next phase of trade finance will be defined by AI-first, API-driven ecosystems that enable frictionless transactions, proactive compliance, and intelligent insights.

Banks that embrace this evolution will be able to:

• Offer real-time, transparent trade experiences to customers.
• Scale faster with cloud-ready and modular architectures.
• Reduce operational costs while improving accuracy.
• Build resilience through automation and risk intelligence.

As the Virtusa–Newgen whitepaper concludes, AI and low code together mark a digital renaissance in trade finance, transforming it into a faster, fairer, and more trusted pillar of global commerce.

About Virtusa

Virtusa Corporation is a global leader in digital engineering, providing solutions to Forbes Global 2000 enterprises. Its “Engineering First” approach ensures scalable execution, improved quality, and lasting results across industries such as financial services, healthcare, media, and technology.

About Newgen

Newgen Software is a global provider of a unified digital transformation platform that combines process automation, content services, and communication management. Its low-code capabilities enable enterprises to build and deploy content-driven business applications rapidly on-premises or in the cloud.