April 2025 | Vanessa Caceres
With the help of AI, Florida banks are finding efficiencies and better-guided customer service. Yet they also face the challenges of maintaining data privacy and meeting regulatory requirements as they develop custom AI technology.
Many consumers are already aware of AI-driven financial assistants (think Fargo from Wells Fargo or Erica from Bank of America) to answer questions or monitor spending or transactions.
Employees also use AI to customize product recommendations. For instance, a specialized AI tool may listen in on an employee conversation with a customer and suggest products that person may want to use based on their personalized financial patterns, says Nick Miceli, regional president for TD Bank, which has 167 locations in Florida.
“I don’t see it as replacing as much as I see it enhancing and enabling folks to focus on the things that matter.” — Nick Miceli, regional president for TD Bank
Some banks also have implemented AI tools that assist employees working for call centers, suggesting solutions to a customer’s problem, Miceli says. These tools continue to learn so they can give better advice to call center employees over time.
The availability of AI tools like these varies depending on a bank’s size, with large banks already having been using them for a few years, but there may be newer or even future additions at regional or community banks, Miceli explains.
Larger banks have whole AI teams, like Layer 6 at TD Bank, focused exclusively on AI research and development for the bank. Bank of America, with 439 locations in Florida, had 1,100 AI and machine learning patents and pending applications in its portfolio as of October 2024, according to information provided by the bank.
Bank of America executives plan to spend more than $12 billion this year on technology, with a third of that dedicated to new technology initiatives.
With all of the shine on AI, there are still cautions. “One major challenge is ensuring the safety and soundness of AI implementations, especially in a highly regulated industry like banking,” says Jude Schramm, chief information officer at Fifth Third Bank, with 175 locations in Florida. “This includes maintaining data privacy and meeting regulatory requirements. At Fifth Third, we make sure that all of our AI implementation is in line with regulators and that we are also keeping a human in the loop.”
Another potential concern is whether AI will become so efficient, it takes away human jobs.
“I don’t see it as replacing as much as I see it enhancing and enabling folks to focus on the things that matter,” Miceli says.
Schramm sees AI as “reshaping the skills required in the banking sector, with a growing demand for roles in data science, AI engineering, and cybersecurity.”