In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, 85% of financial institutions said they have increased digitization efforts, according to a new survey from BAFT, ABA’s global transaction banking subsidiary, and CGI, an independent IT and business consulting firm.
The survey of more than 200 BAFT members conducted over the summer also found that more than 70% of respondents reported increasing trade finance innovation in the last year. Digitization efforts include the use of blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing and robotic process automation.
Conducted to determine how the pandemic has accelerated technological advancement, the survey found that banks have been driving new digitization efforts, forming partnerships with financial and corporate partners, searching for compliance solutions and reexamining existing processes to create efficient operations.
