Customers Bank has signed a multi-year strategic collaboration with OpenAI to deploy artificial intelligence across its commercial banking operations.

Customers Bank, which has nearly $26 billion in assets, said the partnership will result in it becoming the first AI-enabled regional bank in the US.

The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two organisations, which began in 2023 with the bank’s deployment of ChatGPT Enterprise. Under the expanded agreement,
Customers Bank will work directly with OpenAI’s technical teams to develop bespoke AI capabilities tailored to its internal processes, data and workflows.

Around 75 per cent of Customers Bank employees already use tools from OpenAI, and the bank said it has worked over the past year to build the operational and governance infrastructure necessary to deploy AI at scale.

It added that the initiative will focus on re-engineering core banking functions across lending, deposits and payments, with a strong emphasis on data governance, risk management and regulatory transparency.

In lending, the bank said it is deploying AI to automate tasks such as document collection, credit memo preparation and post-closing monitoring, allowing relationship managers to focus more on structuring deals and client engagement.

For deposits, Customers Bank said AI will streamline onboarding and account setup processes with the aim of improving speed and consistency for both customers and staff.

In payments, the technology will enhance the bank’s proprietary cubiX platform, introducing AI-driven risk, compliance and API capabilities to accelerate its payments capacities.

Customers Bank said the strategy is designed to free up bankers’ time for higher-value activities, with a target of shifting more employee focus towards work that creates value for clients and shareholders by the end of 2026.

“We expect a fundamental re-engineering of how Customers Bank operates,” said Sam Sidhu, president and chief executive of Customers Bancorp. “This strategic collaboration with OpenAI gives us the frontier models, engineering expertise, and ability to co-create a roadmap toward becoming an AI-native bank. “

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