Bank of America’s digital strategy appears to be paying off as the bank reported today that its electronic sales activity jumped by 26% year over year, with 85% of its booked mortgages coming through digital channels.

The $3.02 trillion bank reported a net income of $9.2 billion in its quarterly earnings, noting that the vaccine-led economic recovery has helped it more than double its profits. The bank’s bottom line was also boosted by its decision to release $2.2 billion in reserves that had been set aside in anticipation of pandemic-driven losses.

“Digitization, and in particular [artificial intelligence], is helping us standardize processes and respond to clients more quickly and efficiently,” Paul Donofrio, chief financial officer at Bank of America, said in an investor conference call today. He added that the bank’s employees have been using tools powered by Erica, the bank’s AI-driven chatbot, to better manage credit exposure and also acquire new clients.

Erica-based AI capabilities have also been integrated into financial advisor workstations at Merrill Lynch, and have an adoption rate of 97%, the bank noted in its investor presentation.

The total number of Erica users has grown by 47% on a yearly basis to 21.2 million this quarter, according to the bank’s earning presentation. The AI-driven chatbot “helps make people more efficient,” Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said on the call. He added that the bank had reduced its full-time workforce by 2,500 people in Q2, with some of those reductions coming on the back of tech-driven efficiency gains.

While total deposits at the bank have risen by 38% since 2019, Donofrio said that expenses had gone up only by 3%, which further exemplifies how digital channels have boosted efficiency at the bank. Although there has been an “increase in headcount in the front office, there are less people working in support in the back office,” he added.

Bank of America also reported that its consumer and commercial loans grew by $16 billion in aggregate, as compared to the year’s first quarter, and that 77% of its direct vehicle loans were originated digitally.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Bank reported net earnings of $6 billion this quarter, with revenues growing by 11% on a yearly basis to $20.27 billion as the bank leveraged technology for growth.

Laying out the repair and growth strategy for the bank, CEO Charlie Scharf said in an investor conference call the $1.9 trillion financial institution is “focused on cloud, payments, fintech competition and digital strategy.”

He said that some of the bank’s recent hires were geared toward building out better digital capabilities with the aim to “instill a mobile-first” approach and focus on data and analytics.

The bank’s technology, telecommunications and equipment spend stood at $815 million this quarter, up 21% on a yearly basis. Echoing the bullish outlook on improving economic conditions in the United States, Wells Fargo also released $1.64 billion from its pandemic loss reserves.

Wells Fargo has also reduced its branch network by 5% this quarter, Michael Santomassimo, chief financial officer at the bank, said during the call.

Citi

Citigroup posted revenues of $17.47 billion this quarter, denoting a 12% yearly decline. The $2.2 trillion bank reported a net income of $6.2 billion, which was bolstered by $2.4 billion in reserve release.

“We have set out to modernize our bank and want to achieve nothing less than excellence in our risk and control environment,” CEO Jane Fraser said in a Citi statement. The financial institution’s forward-looking expenditures are split 30% for technology and 70% for non-technology expense, CFO Mark Mason said on the call.

Citi had announced in April that the bank would be exiting retail operations across 13 countries in Asia and Europe to focus more on wealth management. “Scale is clearly very important in a digital world,” Fraser said during the call, referring to areas of strength for Citi, such as its treasury and trade business, which netted the bank $2.2 billion in revenue, a growth of 6% compared to the previous quarter.