Financial Services in the Digital Age: The Role of Technology in UK-US Trade Relations

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The trade relations between the UK and the US are strategic and crucial for both countries, and amid rising challenges in the global economy and policies, financial services are looking for smart solutions to optimise complex processes.

We have selected three examples and analysed them in the context of UK-US trade relations.

Getting a Sense of the Foreign Market

One of the first challenges in international trade is understanding the financial landscape and consumer behaviour in the target market.

For UK professionals looking to succeed in the US (and vice versa), it’s vital to see the market through local eyes.

What are consumers buying? How are competitors pricing and marketing their services? Are there local financial trends or regulatory nuances that could impact business?

Gaining these insights requires accessing the same data, websites, and tools that a local analyst would use.

However, much of the internet is segmented by geography, a hurdle many don’t expect.

A European Commission study found that 38% of businesses and even more digital creators initiate geo-blocking when trying to access digital content or services.

In other words, without the right approach, a UK trader researching U.S. markets online might hit a “this content is not available in your region” message on U.S. sites.

This is where proxy servers become invaluable. A proxy server essentially lets you route your internet connection through a server located in the target country, making it appear as if you are browsing from there.

By using a U.S. proxy, for example, a UK financial analyst can directly access American market data portals, local news sites, or even region-locked fintech tools that would otherwise be off-limits.

The benefits are immediate for decision-making and market entry strategies. Companies can monitor local competitors’ offerings, checking how prices or product features differ for U.S. customers.

They can gather real-time consumer sentiment from forums or social media that might be geo-restricted.

Without a doubt, such technology-driven access to local insights can be a game-changer for UK-US trade relations.

Fintech and API Integration: Seamless Cross-Border Finance

Moving money and data across the Atlantic has historically been a complex affair. Cross-border B2B payments often involve multiple banks, time zone differences, and compliance checks that slow things down. In fact, cross-border payments take 55% longer on average than domestic payments for US and UK businesses. This delay isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a cost.

Companies today demand speed and efficiency; it’s telling that more than 50% of global firms cite payment speed as the top factor when choosing cross-border payment solutions. The good news is that fintech innovations are rapidly closing this gap.

Financial technology (fintech) solutions are enabling near-instant, low-friction transactions that make the “international” part of international trade far less painful. Modern B2B payment platforms can route transactions through local clearing networks in each country, avoiding the old maze of intermediary banks. The next step is connecting these systems.

Fintech firms are working on linking real-time networks and using technologies like distributed ledgers to enable almost instant cross-border settlements.

AI and RegTech: Navigating Cross-Border Compliance

Compliance has become so complex and resource-intensive that it now costs the industry eye-watering amounts: UK financial institutions spend about £38 billion a year on financial crime compliance, and in the US and Canada the bill is around $61 billion annually.

Clearly, doing things “the old way” (with armies of manual auditors and disparate systems) isn’t sustainable.

This is where technology, specifically AI and RegTech (Regulatory Technology), steps in as a saviour.

RegTech solutions leverage digital tools to streamline and automate compliance tasks.

For example, instead of a team of analysts manually reviewing transactions for suspicious activity, an AI-powered system can monitor millions of transactions across UK and US accounts in real time. These AI systems learn to detect complex patterns that might indicate fraud or money laundering, far beyond the capability of traditional rules-based systems.

Impressively, banks report that AI-driven AML systems can cut false alarms (false positives) by up to 40%, focusing human investigators on truly risky cases.

The adoption of AI in compliance is accelerating at an incredible rate; in one survey, 98% of UK financial firms said they plan to implement AI/ML tools into their compliance processes by 2026.

For professionals in finance and trade, the impact of these compliance technologies is significant. In a sphere where a single compliance slip-up can result in massive fines or reputational damage, such peace of mind is invaluable. By leveraging AI and RegTech, companies make the transatlantic leap not only faster, but safer.