Customers Bank Announces Strategic Collaboration with OpenAI to Redefine the Commercial Banking Operating Model

Leading commercial bank to collaborate with OpenAI, building one of the first AI-enabled regional banks in the United States

WEST READING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Customers Bank (“Bank”), the subsidiary of Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: CUBI) one of the nation’s top-performing banking companies with nearly $26 billion in assets, today announced a multiyear strategic collaboration with OpenAI to deploy artificial intelligence (“AI”) across its commercial banking operations, marking a defining moment in the Bank’s transformation. This collaboration will position Customers Bank to become one of the first AI-enabled regional banks in the United States.

Leveraging OpenAI’s advanced models, the Bank will seek to reimagine its lending, deposit, and payment lifecycles, with strict data governance and regulatory transparency at its core. This is an expansion of the relationship, which began in 2023 when Customers Bank was an early adopter to deploy ChatGPT Enterprise.

“We expect a fundamental re-engineering of how Customers Bank operates,” said Sam Sidhu, President and CEO of Customers Bancorp. “We have spent the last year building the operational and governance infrastructure to deploy AI at scale. Today, 75% of our team members use tools powered by OpenAI. 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. This strategic engagement positions us to be the leader in AI adoption among regional banks. By the end of 2026, our bankers will spend more of their time on the work that creates value for clients and our shareholders.”

A Strategic Engagement Built on World-Class AI

This collaboration involves direct onsite engagement with OpenAI’s technical teams and resources. Rather than adopting off-the-shelf AI tools, the deployment allows Customers Bank to work with OpenAI to build custom AI capabilities on the Bank’s own processes, data, and institutional knowledge, starting with three areas where the opportunity is greatest. This allows dedicated bankers to invest more time in Customers Bank’s single point of contact model, keeping customer relationships fully human. All AI capabilities will be deployed within Customers Bank’s secure, enterprise-grade infrastructure, and designed with strict data governance, access controls, and risk management built in from day one.

What Is Being Built: Enterprise-Grade AI Across Three Core Domains

AI deployment at Customers Bank is already in production and advancing rapidly. In this next phase, the Bank will target end-to-end workflow orchestration across three domains that define commercial banking performance:

• Lending: AI handling tasks like document collection, credit memoranda preparation, legal documents, and post-closing portfolio and collateral monitoring, so bankers can focus on structuring the right deal and servicing their clients.
• Deposits: AI streamlining digital onboarding and account setup, elevating the client experience making it faster and more consistent for our bankers and customers.
• Payments: AI accelerating the payments capabilities of cubiX, the Bank’s proprietary $2 trillion payments platform, to deliver agent-ready APIs and AI-driven risk and compliance tooling.

Institutional Background

Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI) is one of the nation's top-performing banking companies with nearly $26 billion in assets making it one of the 80 largest bank holding companies in the U.S. Customers Bank's commercial and consumer clients benefit from a full suite of technology-enabled tailored product experiences delivered by best-in-class customer service distinguished by a Single Point of Contact approach. In addition to traditional lines such as C&I, commercial real estate, and residential and personal lending, Customers Bank also provides a number of national corporate banking services to clients in businesses including: fund finance, venture banking, healthcare, mortgage finance, and equipment finance. Major accolades include:

• Named a Top 10 Performing Bank by American Banker for five consecutive years (2021-2025), including the #1 spot in 2024 among midsize banks ($10B to $50B in assets)
• No. 45 out of the 100 largest publicly traded banks in 2026 Forbes Best Banks list
• Net Promoter Score of 81 compared to industry average of 41

A member of the Federal Reserve System with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Customers Bank is an equal opportunity lender. Learn more: www.customersbank.com.