UPDATE: This article includes comments made during BNY's earnings call.
- Key insight: BNY, which reported strong third-quarter earnings Thursday, is moving at a quick pace to create and utilize artificial intelligence solutions across its workforce.
- Forward look: Banks are moving at varying speeds when it comes to AI adoption.
- Supporting data: BNY said it counted 117 different AI solutions in production at the custody bank, as of Sept. 30.
As banks of all sizes adopt artificial intelligence, The Bank of New York Mellon is providing numbers that quantify the speed at which its workforce is incorporating the use of AI.
As of Sept. 30, the custody bank had 117 different AI solutions in production, Chairman and CEO Robin Vince told analysts Thursday. That's up 75% from the second quarter, and it follows the company's September launch of Eliza 2.0, an updated AI platform that's used by nearly all of BNY employees on a daily basis.
"At BNY, AI is for everyone, everywhere and for everything," Vince said during a call to discuss BNY's third-quarter results. "By putting AI in the hands of everyone at BNY, we intend to develop fluency and create capacity for our people to focus on higher-value work," which improves client relations and innovation, he said.
BNY's usage of AI includes agentic AI that has, so far, deployed more than 100 "digital employees" who are working with BNY employees "on tasks such as payment validations and code repairs," Vince said. "We believe our AI opportunity is significant, and we are pursuing it with urgency."
BNY's goal is not only to improve speed and automation, but also to identify new business opportunities.
Banks are moving at varying paces into the world of AI. Some, like BNY, are embracing it, while others are taking a more cautious approach. In June, TD Securities
BNY recently announced a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to create the BNY AI lab at the university. The goal is to combine Carnegie Mellon's academic expertise with BNY's market know-how, and to advance AI research, governance and deployment.
For the third quarter, BNY recorded another period of higher-than-forecasted revenue and earnings, driven by higher net interest income and a release of provisions for credit losses.
The $455.3 billion-asset bank reported revenue of $5.08 billion for the third quarter, topping the $4.98 billion consensus estimate of analysts who were polled by S&P Capital IQ. For the second quarter in a row, BNY's total revenue came in 9% higher than in the year-ago period.
Net income totaled $1.33 billion, up 21% from the same quarter in 2024, while earnings per share for the quarter came in at $1.88, exceeding analysts' average estimate of $1.76.
Net interest income rose 18% year over year to $1.24 billion, mostly as a result of the ongoing reinvestment of maturing securities at higher yields and balance sheet growth, the bank said in a press release. The increase was partially offset by changes in the deposit mix, it added.
The favorable results included the release of $7 million in provisions for credit losses and higher fee income, which climbed 7% year over year to $3.64 billion, according to the release.
The uptick in fee income stemmed from a few factors, including net new business and an increase in client activity and market values, the company said.
Expenses increased 4% during the three-month period to $3.24 billion. Average loans and average deposits both increased by 5% compared with the third quarter of last year.
BNY's return on tangible common equity, which is a key profitability metric for banks, came in at 25.6%. That's better than the year-ago period when the metric was 22.8%.
Read more about bank earnings here:
The latest results come as BNY continues to push ahead with a pair of business strategies, including a "commercial model" and a "platforms operating model" that's intended to streamline and unify departments.
"The new commercial model is enabling greater sales momentum and multi-product solutioning, and as we continue to transition additional parts of the company into our platforms operating model, we see the benefits of this new way of working starting to materialize," Vince said in the press release.
During the third quarter, the bank said it will
