Citibank is looking to reduce manual processing risk and costs by utilizing document processing company, Traydstream to automate document information processing and document creation. 

“The reliance on paper in the trade industry needs to reduce and we see the next few years to be transformative for the business as we make our industry more environmentally friendly,” Valeria Sica, global head of trade data, partnerships and innovation at Citi, said in a Dec. 4 release.

The London-based document processing company Traydstream, founded in 2015 raised $21 million in September, led by Pivot Investment Partners, and aims to use the money toward “tech, sales, AI and product expansion,” Chief Executive Sameer Sehgal previously told Bank Automation News. 

“Trade is indelible to all markets and our utility has universal appeal, not only for banks but for corporates, SMEs and the wider trade ecosystem,” Sehgal said. “There is a huge need for automation with less than 1% of the [trade documentation] ecosystem currently digitized.” 

The $578 billion Deutsche Bank, Microsoft and $819 billion Standard Chartered Bank are among Traydstream’s clients. 

Extend teams up with SAP Concur for virtual card issuance 

Virtual card fintech Extend is integrating its offering into automation processing platform Concur Invoice.  

Toronto-based $942 billion BMO will be the first bank to issue the Concur Invoice offering through its standing partnership with Extend, Extend Chief Executive Andrew Jamison told BAN. 

The virtual card offering lets customers control their payment amounts and timing, improve cash flow and more effectively use working capital. Customers can register for the virtual cards while keeping their existing corporate cards, allowing for expense management and digital payments, Jamison said. 

“Leveraging Extend’s virtual-card-as-a-service capabilities, Concur Invoice automatically generates a virtual card linked to the user’s registered corporate card, complete with a distinct 16-digit number, spend limit, validity date and invoice number corresponding to the invoice,” Jamison said. “This new process also automates reconciliation of payments to invoices, delivering meaningful automation to finance departments.” 

According to a Sept. 28 Juniper Research report, virtual card spend will increase by 335% by 2028 from $3.1 trillion in 2023 and Extend aims tap into the growing payment channel, Jamison said. 

As Extend adds to its offerings, it is also launching new AI-driven capabilities. In October, Extend launched AI-powered automatic receipt matching, which allows users to email or upload receipt images and automatically match the receipts with their corresponding transactions, Jamison said.  

Clarity AI selects AWS for ESG insights 

Clarity AI, an AI-driven sustainability technology company, is looking to Amazon Web Services to provide investment impact tracking solutions on the cloud platform, according to a recent release.  

Financial institutions can plug Clarity AI’s API, available on AWS cloud, into their tech stack to use Clarity AI’s solutions. The $468 billion Capital One, $224 billion Citizens Bank and NatWest are among the banks that use AWS’ cloud platform. 

Clarity AI provides customers with risk evaluation, climate considerations and the ability to track CO2 impact of their investments, Chief Technology Officer Marsal Gavalda told BAN.  

Aspiration Bank, a Marina Del Rey, Calif.-based neobank is among the first financial institutions to roll out Clarity AI’s features to its customers, Gavalda said. Aspiration has raised $250 million in funding since its founding in 2013, according to Crunchbase.

The $2.6 trillion BNP Paribas, Singular Bank and Banco Caminos are among a few of Clarity AI’s customers, according to the company’s website. 

Clarity AI also uses AWS’ SageMaker to train and deploy ML models, AWS’ QuickSight to generate dashboards and GuardDuty to monitor for malicious activity, Gavalda said. 

Citi sells Indonesia consumer business to UOB 

Citibank, which recently completed the sale of its consumer banking operations in Indonesia to United Overseas Bank, will use the money from the sale “to invest in our strategic priorities, including our institutional businesses, as well as to continue to return capital to our shareholders,” a Citi spokesperson told BAN. 

The sale of the retail banking, credit card and unsecured lending businesses “has resulted in a regulatory capital benefit of approximately $1.1 billion,” according to a recent Citi release.   

The sale excludes Citi’s institutional banking business but echoes the theme of the bank looking to restructure its operations as it continues its exit from multiple locations. 

The $1.6 trillion bank’s exit from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries was part of a broader strategic decision announced in April 2021 to exit consumer banking across 14 markets, including Mexico, the Middle East, India and China, the spokesperson said. 

In October, Citi sold its wealth business in China to HSBC for $3.6 billion, and in March sold its consumer banking operations in India to Axis Bank for $1.4 billion. Citi continues to operate in 95 countries where it has a physical presence, the spokesperson said. 

Brim Financial taps Mastercard for open banking and cards 

Brim Financial, a card-as-a-service company, is teaming with Mastercard to expand credit card issuance in the U.S., according to today’s release from Brim. 

Mastercard’s open banking capabilities will provide embedded payment capabilities to Brim customers looking to launch commercial and consumer credit cards, according to the release. 

Financial institutions, fintechs and large brands can now issue their own branded payment option through Brim and Mastercard without building the technology infrastructure, the release stated. 

“There is significant momentum happening now in the U.S. market when it comes to innovating credit card infrastructure across consumer, small- and medium-sized business and commercial segments,” Rasha Katabi, founder and chief executive of Brim Financial, said in the release. “This partnership with Mastercard will be transformational for companies seeking a sophisticated, modern credit card platform to better serve their customers.” 

Brim Financial clients include $33 billion Laurentian Bank and $28 billion Canadian Western Bank, according to Brim’s website. 

Visit Bank Automation News’ Transactions Database, which lists the technology selected or acquired by companies in the financial services industry, with a specific focus on technology that enhances automation.

Get ready for the Bank Automation Summit U.S. 2024 in Nashville on March 18-19! Discover the latest advancements in AI and automation in banking. Register now.