BRAC Bank has gone live with Finastra’s Trade Innovation and Corporate Channels and Conpend’s Trade AI to digitise its trade finance operations.
Bangladesh-based BRAC Bank, a private commercial bank listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange, has gone live with Finastra’s Trade Innovation and Corporate Channels solutions, along with Conpend’s Trade AI, creating a more connected trade finance environment for the bank and its corporate customers. The bank aimed to modernise its trade finance operations as volumes grow, replacing fragmented processes with an integrated digital platform that increases straight-through processing and improves visibility across the trade finance lifecycle.
An integrated trade finance platform
The new platform allows BRAC Bank to deploy new services faster while supporting compliance with evolving industry standards, including ISO 20022 and the Swift SR2026 requirements. Corporate clients now have a single channel through which they can initiate requests, collaborate securely, approve transactions, and track progress in real time, with governance and oversight built in. The platform’s open architecture is designed to support growing transaction volumes and the adoption of new technologies.
Tareq Refat Ullah Khan, Managing Director and CEO of BRAC Bank, described the implementation as an important milestone in the bank’s trade finance transformation. According to Khan, digitising and streamlining trade operations improves transparency, control, and efficiency, allowing the bank to serve its corporate clients with greater speed and reliability and supporting its ambition to strengthen its position in trade banking in Bangladesh.
Modernising trade finance infrastructure
Andrew Bateman, EVP for Lending at Finastra, stated that, as trade finance continues to support businesses and economic growth, banks are looking for technology that simplifies operations and improves the customer experience. According to Bateman, Finastra’s front-to-back trade finance capabilities have given BRAC Bank a scalable platform that increases operational efficiency, improves visibility across the trade lifecycle, and provides a more connected experience for corporate customers.
The go-live extends the existing relationship between BRAC Bank and Finastra, which provides software to thousands of financial institutions in more than 100 countries and is backed by Vista Equity Partners. With industry messaging standards such as ISO 20022 and Swift SR2026 changing, the upgrade also positions the bank to meet these requirements in its trade finance operations.
