Cass and Caspian Debut AI Solution to Tame Tariff Complexity

ST. LOUIS & SAN FRANCISCO – February 26, 2026 – In a move set to reshape how U.S. importers manage the financial complexities of global trade, payment solutions leader Cass Information Systems has announced a strategic partnership with Caspian, an AI-powered customs technology firm. The collaboration introduces a comprehensive tariff cost management solution designed to automate duty recovery and enhance compliance, addressing long-standing challenges in a volatile market.

The partnership integrates Cass's extensive freight and invoice payment infrastructure with Caspian's specialized artificial intelligence for auditing customs entries and identifying overpayments. For importers grappling with convoluted tariff schedules and the constant threat of regulatory shifts, the joint offering promises a path to improved cash flow, stronger compliance, and a clearer understanding of true landed product costs.

The Unseen Costs of Global Trade

Navigating the U.S. customs process has become an increasingly high-stakes endeavor for businesses of all sizes. The landscape is fraught with challenges that directly impact a company's bottom line and operational stability. Ongoing tariff complexity, driven by geopolitical tensions and frequent regulatory updates, creates a minefield of financial and compliance risks. Importers often struggle to keep pace with changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), a vast catalog of codes used to classify goods, leading to costly errors.

Industry analysis reveals that a significant portion of importers overpay duties due to misclassifications, failure to leverage free trade agreements, or an inability to utilize complex recovery mechanisms like duty drawback. These overpayments represent billions in trapped working capital. The process to reclaim these funds through Post Summary Corrections (PSCs) or formal protests is notoriously manual, paper-intensive, and slow, with potential refunds often getting lost in administrative backlogs or abandoned altogether due to the resource-intensive nature of the process.

Furthermore, the lack of integrated systems often means that freight costs and customs duties are managed in separate silos. This disconnect prevents companies from gaining a holistic view of their supply chain expenses, making it difficult to perform accurate cost analysis, plan strategically, and price products effectively. In an environment where supply chain resilience is paramount, this fragmented approach leaves companies reactive and vulnerable to unforeseen costs and disruptions.

A New Playbook: Integrating Payments and AI Recovery

The Cass-Caspian solution aims to replace this fragmented and reactive model with a unified, automated platform. The synergy lies in connecting Cass's established capabilities in managing over $94 billion in annual client spend with Caspian's cutting-edge AI technology, which is specifically designed to dissect the intricacies of customs tariffs.

At the heart of the new offering is Caspian's AI-driven tariff audit engine and HTS modeling. Unlike traditional rules-based software or manual audits performed by consultants, this technology uses machine learning to analyze vast datasets of trade information, product descriptions, and historical customs rulings. This allows the system to not only suggest the most accurate and financially advantageous HTS classification for a product but also to audit past import entries at scale, something previously unfeasible for many companies.

The integration means that as Cass processes payments and audits freight invoices, Caspian's AI can simultaneously analyze the associated customs entry data. The engine identifies discrepancies, flags potential misclassifications, and automatically pinpoints opportunities for duty refunds. This moves the process from a reactive, manual post-mortem to a proactive, automated function that runs continuously in the background.

“This partnership strengthens our ability to help importers manage tariff costs with greater accuracy and transparency,” said Tony Urban, president of Cass’s freight payment organization. “Cass has supported duty payments for years. Now by adding Caspian’s compliance, audit, and recovery capabilities, we’re able to deliver the comprehensive solution our clients have been asking for.”

Unlocking Cash Flow and Fortifying Compliance

The direct benefits for U.S. importers are substantial, focusing on both financial recovery and risk mitigation. By automating the identification of overpaid duties, the platform significantly accelerates the refund cycle. The system is designed to handle the entire recovery workflow, from identifying an opportunity to supporting the filing of PSCs, protests, and duty drawback claims, turning a process that once took months or years into one that can be completed in days.

This accelerated cash flow provides immediate financial relief and improves a company's liquidity. For businesses operating on thin margins, the ability to quickly reclaim thousands or even millions of dollars in overpaid duties can be transformative.

Beyond the financial upside, the solution offers a powerful tool for strengthening compliance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The AI-driven audits create a searchable and verifiable record of every shipment, providing a robust defense in the event of a CBP inquiry. By ensuring HTS classifications are accurate and defensible, importers can significantly reduce their risk of penalties, fines, and shipment delays. This creates a posture of proactive compliance rather than reactive correction.

“Caspian brings a best-in-class AI-driven tariff audit engine and advanced HTS modeling to this partnership, and our team has decades of combined experience in customs brokerage and supply chain technology,” stated Justin Sherlock, co-founder and CEO of Caspian. “Together, we’ll help importers close compliance gaps, maximize tariff refunds, and increase transparency throughout the shipping lifecycle.”

By managing both freight and duty costs within a single platform and payment process, the partnership provides unprecedented visibility. This allows finance and supply chain leaders to analyze total landed costs with precision, enabling more strategic sourcing decisions, more accurate budgeting, and a more resilient financial structure for their global trade operations.