Customers Bank expands OpenAI tie

Customers Bank said on April 27 that it signed a multiyear collaboration with OpenAI to automate parts of its commercial-banking operation. (customersbank.com) The Pennsylvania lender said the work will focus on lending, deposits and payments. OpenAI engineers are set to work with the bank on new workflows and internal tools. (customersbank.com) (cnbc.com) Chief executive Sam Sidhu tied the deal to specific banking tasks: document collection, underwriting and client onboarding. CNBC reported the bank wants to shorten manual processes that can slow loan closings and account opening. (cnbc.com) (bankingdive.com) Commercial banking still runs on forms, PDFs, checklists and back-and-forth emails. Banks use underwriters and operations staff to verify documents, assess risk and move a customer from application to funded loan. (bankingdive.com) (customersbank.com) Customers Bank is pitching artificial intelligence as a way to handle that paperwork faster, route exceptions to humans and reduce the time staff spend on repetitive review. The bank said the collaboration is aimed at redesigning its operating model, not adding a single chatbot. (customersbank.com) (morningstar.com) The announcement landed days after Sidhu used an AI voice clone to deliver part of Customers Bancorp’s April 24 first-quarter earnings call before disclosing it to listeners. Reuters and CNBC tied that stunt to the bank’s broader push to put AI deeper into daily operations. (finance.yahoo.com) (cnbc.com) Customers Bank said it has nearly $26 billion in assets and called itself one of the first regional banks trying to become AI-enabled at this scale. Sidhu said in the release that the bank wants to become “AI-native.” (customersbank.com) (morningstar.com) The pitch comes as banks across the industry test generative artificial intelligence for coding, customer service, compliance work and internal research, while keeping humans in charge of regulated decisions. Customers Bank is betting the next step is to push those tools into the core mechanics of commercial banking. (cnbc.com) (bankingdive.com) For now, the clearest signal is where the bank is starting: loan files, onboarding packets and payment workflows that already generate heavy administrative work. That is where Customers Bank and OpenAI said the redesign begins. (customersbank.com) (cnbc.com)