Bank of America largely credits digital banking, sales and services for its $31.9 billion in net income for 2021, a 79% year-over-year increase.

“The best way to highlight the drivers behind the earnings success is to look at the momentum and client activity across the businesses,” Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said during Wednesday’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “More and more, this client activity is powered by our digital transformation, which is foundational to everything we do.”

The $3.1 trillion Bank of America‘s net income for Q4 clocked in at $7 billion, up 28% from $5.5 billion in Q4 2020. The bank reported total revenue of $89.1 billion for 2021, a 4% increase from 2020. Total revenue for Q4 2021 was $22.1 billion, up 10% YoY.

The bank broke out spending for “information processing and communications,” which totaled $1.5 billion for Q4, up from $1.4 billion from Q4 2020. That same expense for 2021 totaled $5.8 billion, compared with $5.2 billion for 2020.

Erica, the bank’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual assistant and financial advisor tool, saw a 43% increase in users at 24.6 million, up from 17.2 million in Q4 2020. Those users are also turning to the tool more frequently: The bank reported 122.9 million customer interactions with Erica during Q4, a 247% leap from 35.4 million interactions in Q4 2020.

Meanwhile, there was significant growth in digital person-to-person payments through Zelle, with the bank reporting that 15.8 million users completed 218 million transactions during Q4 for a total of $65 billion, up from 12.9 million users and 157 million transactions from the same period in 2020.

“The number of Zelle transactions now surpasses the checks written by our consumers,” Moynihan said.

Digital sales accounted for 49% of Bank of America’s total sales in Q4 2021, up from 45% YoY. The bank said it now has 54 million verified digital users and 70% household adoption of digital banking channels, up from 52 million digital users and 69% household penetration of digital channels at the end of 2020.

Digital sales and banking channels are offsetting higher revenue costs and delivering more lucrative growth, Moynihan said: “This allows us to grow a consumer business with lower costs.”

Bank of America has been positioning itself for future digital sales and services growth on the commercial side, Moynihan said, adding that the bank invested $300 million in a merchant services platform. Regarding resulting digital sales capabilities, “we’re only starting to be able to take full advantage of it,” he said during the call.

Merrill clients lead in digital adoption

Bank of America is seeing higher digital adoption in its Merrill Lynch investment and wealth management division, said Alastair Borthwick, who joined the bank in Q4 as chief financial officer.

“The clients of this business continue to lead our franchise in digital adoption, utilizing digital tools to access their investments and also for other banking needs like mobile check deposits and lending,” Borthwick said during the call. “This evolution is forming a modern Merrill which is advisor-led and powered by digital.”

Meanwhile, Merrill financial advisors are also meeting more clients in person “and are building their pipelines back following the shutdown during the pandemic.”

Some 79% of Merrill Lynch households were digitally active in Q4, up 77% YoY. The figures are higher for Bank of America’s Private Bank clients, among whom 85% used digital banking tools in Q4, compared with 82% YoY.

Bank of America [NYSE: BAC] shares closed at $46.44 today, up 0.39% from market open.

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