Customers Bank taps OpenAI for banking transformation

By Parth Prabhudesai

Customers Bank has announced a multi-year strategic collaboration with OpenAI to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence across its commercial banking operations, marking a significant step toward becoming an AI-native financial institution.

The partnership focuses on embedding AI into three core areas—lending, deposits, and payments—through customised solutions built around the bank’s internal processes, proprietary data, and institutional expertise. Unlike off-the-shelf tools, the initiative is designed to deliver tailored capabilities that enhance efficiency, decision-making, and customer experience.

In lending, AI will support document collection, credit memo preparation, legal documentation, and post-closing portfolio monitoring. For deposits, the technology will streamline digital onboarding and account setup processes. Within payments, AI will enhance the bank’s proprietary cubiX platform—responsible for processing $2 trillion in transactions—by introducing agent-ready APIs and advanced risk and compliance tools.

All AI deployments will operate within the bank’s secure infrastructure, with strong data governance, access controls, and risk management frameworks integrated from the outset. Customers Bank confirmed that several AI capabilities are already live and expanding across business functions.

The collaboration builds on an existing relationship that began in 2023, when the bank adopted ChatGPT Enterprise. Currently, around 75% of its workforce actively uses AI-powered tools, reflecting a broad internal shift toward automation and augmentation.

“We expect a fundamental re-engineering of how Customers Bank operates,” said Sam Sidhu, President and CEO of Customers Bancorp. “This collaboration gives us access to advanced models and engineering expertise to co-create a roadmap toward becoming an AI-native bank.”

He added that the initiative aims to free up bankers’ time for higher-value, client-facing activities by the end of 2026.

The move highlights a broader industry trend, with regional banks increasingly leveraging AI to modernise operations, improve productivity, and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.