Defense Speak Interpreted: If CHIPS Cuts Back, What Happens to Electronics Packaging Funds?
American Made Advocacy: Where’s the Budget for a Modern Military Run on Microelectronics?
Beyond the Board: Orbital High Ground—Why Space Superiority Is Slipping Away
HSBC and IBM Develop Cognitive Intelligence Solution to Digitise Global Trade
August 10, 2017 | IBMEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
HSBC is working with IBM to develop a cognitive intelligence solution combining optical character recognition with advanced robotics to make global trade safer and more efficient for thousands of businesses.
HSBC’s Global Trade and Receivables Finance (GTRF) team facilitates over USD500 billion of documentary trade for customers every year, and in doing so must manually review and process up to 100 million pages of documents, ranging from invoices to packing lists and insurance certificates.
The new solution uses IBM’s advanced analytics technology, including intelligent segmentation and text analytics, to identify, digitise and extract key data within these documents before feeding it into the bank’s transaction processing systems; boosting accuracy whilst freeing up staff for more value-adding activities.
“The average trade transaction requires 65 data fields to be extracted from 15 different documents, with 40 pages to be reviewed,” said Natalie Blyth, HSBC’s Global Head of GTRF. “By digitising this process we will make transactions quicker and safer for both buyers and suppliers, leading our industry forwards, and we will reduce compliance risks through an enhanced ability to manage huge volumes of data.”
“The problem is how to capture semi-structured documents with highly variant content through an analogue process, and no-one has the perfect answer,” said Roger Welch, Industry (Financial) Expert and Solution Architect for IBM Analytics ECM practice. “In our experience, no trade finance solution has come as far or done as much as this new solution.”
HSBC is currently using the technology to analyse English-language import and export bills in several markets in Asia, Europe, the Americas and the MENA region. The team aims to enhance the solution so it can read a wider range of documents and languages including French, Spanish and Chinese.
“We are continuously investing in technologies that will improve the way we work for the benefit of our customers and our people,” said Natalie Blyth. “HSBC wants to be the leading bank for innovation, and initiatives like this one are key to achieving our goal.”
About The HSBC Group
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 3,900 offices in 67 countries and territories in Europe, Asia, North and Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,492bn at 30 June 2017, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About IBM Watson Financial Services
IBM is working with organizations across the financial services industry to use IBM Cloud, cognitive, regtech and blockchain technology to address their business challenges. Banking, wealth management and insurance are some of the areas poised for dramatic change by using cognitive and AI capabilities provided by IBM Watson Financial Services.
Share on:
Testimonial
"We’re proud to call I-Connect007 a trusted partner. Their innovative approach and industry insight made our podcast collaboration a success by connecting us with the right audience and delivering real results."
Julia McCaffrey - NCAB GroupSuggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
09/05/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007It’s almost fall here in Atlanta, and that means that the temperature is finally dropping. And it quit raining! It’s been raining since March, and I’m so over it, as the social influencers say. Last night we grilled out on the deck, and it wasn’t hot, and we didn’t get rained on. Life is good. It was a busy week in the industry. In this installment of my must-reads, we say goodbye to Walt Custer, the man who made PCB data points interesting for the rest of us.
UHDI Fundamentals: UHDI Technology and Industry 4.0
09/03/2025 | Anaya Vardya, American Standard CircuitsUltra high density interconnect (UHDI) technology is rapidly transforming how smart systems are designed and deployed in the context of Industry 4.0. With its capacity to support highly miniaturized, high-performance, and densely packed electronics, UHDI is a critical enabler of the smart, connected, and automated industrial future. Here, I’ll explore the synergy between UHDI and Industry 4.0 technologies, highlighting applications, benefits, and future directions.
Nolan’s Notes: Everyone Has Their Eye on India
09/03/2025 | Nolan Johnson -- Column: Nolan's NotesIn this issue of SMT007 Magazine, we turn our attention to the Indian EMS market. We start with an interview with David Bergman, whose foresight in the early 2000s opened doors for the Global Electronics Association to begin helping Indian EMS companies with standards and certifications that would give EMS companies a footing to enter a global EMS market.
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/29/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week, we bring you Global Electronics Association’s Chris Mitchell’s government relations column on—you guessed it—trade deals. TTM is balancing its facilities between East and West. The Global Electronics Association released July numbers for North American PCB shipments, and the news is good. Meanwhile, the corresponding report for EMS might seem like bad news, but that’s misleading. Be sure to look deeper for the rest of the story. Finally, for a bit space-science palate cleansing, I’m sharing news of the latest launch of NASA’s X-37B.
Summit Interconnect Names Milan Shah as Vice Chairman of the Board
08/26/2025 | Summit Interconnect, Inc.Summit Interconnect, a leading provider of advanced PCB manufacturing, today announced that Milan Shah has been named Vice Chairman of the Board.