The use of tools and technology to improve efficiency has been employed throughout history. Today, the tools of choice are computers and artificial intelligence (AI), which are often used to speed up complex processes that take humans much longer to complete. For Standard Chartered, trade document screening was precisely the type of complex job that required optimising.
Due to the high volume of data and varying formats of trade documents – 36 million pages of trade documents with more than 200 million data elements are scanned by Standard Chartered annually – manual screening can be lengthy and tedious work. Standard Chartered’s goal was to improve its operational efficiency of trade document screening processes by providing quicker turnaround times and better accuracy while keeping costs low. To achieve this, it sought the help of IBM to co-develop an AI-based system.