Mid-size institutions like Bell Bank and Provident Bank are locking in their AI strategies as they look to streamline workflows and improve customer interactions.  

About 50% to 60% of mid-size or regional banks with assets between $10 billion and $100 billion had deployed AI as of December, primarily for credit risk management, anti-money laundering and customer service, according to AI research company AllAboutAI. The adoption rate among banks with more than $100 billion assets ranged between 75% to 80%.  

Fargo, N.D.-based Bell Bank has begun using AI for fraud detection, underwriting and marketing, and it is developing a custom knowledge-based search engine, Michelle Mack, AI director at the $14 billion bank, told FinAi News.  

The search engine “will enable us to create operational efficiencies across many different business processes, drive more consistent and accurate answers for improved customer service, and enhance employee experience,” she said.  

Bell Bank is also using AI-driven productivity tools such as Microsoft Copilot, with its analytics dashboard serving as “a starting point for quantifying potential efficiency gains,” Mack said. 

“As we adopt additional AI capabilities and tools within our current business processes, we will be identifying additional measurements relevant to each process to quantify the potential efficiency gains or cost savings,” she said. 

The bank is also evaluating potential fintech partners for “customer experience and internal business platform integration” solutions, Mack said. 

Provident seeks transparency, explainability  

Meanwhile, Iselin, N.J.-based Provident Bank is prioritizing multiple AI applications, Satish Harikrishnan, senior vice president and chief technology officer at the $24 billion bank, told FinAi News. The focus areas include: 

• Fraud mitigation; 
• streamlining internal workflows; and 
• improving customer interaction channels. 

Human oversight and governance are central to Provident’s AI strategy, with a focus on transparency and explainability, especially regulated processes, Harikrishnan said. 

The AI will support “workflow efficiency, document processing and data analysis, with tools intended to assist bankers rather than replace judgment, as our view is that AI is a tool to enhance rather than replace human expertise,” he said. 

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